The Effect 2
by Shockra
Summary: Yes original title I know. Part 2 to my story starting with Season 2 Hekketsuroku. Saitou/OC pairing, slightly Hijikata/Chizuru pairing. I suggest reading The Effect first but if you've seen the anime then you should be able to follow along, although this more AU then the 1st. Maybe eventually upgraded to M rating.
1. Chapter 1

New story! Woot! Well new part to an old story! If you haven't read the 1st story I strongly suggest you do!

So we start off where the other story ended. Normally I have at least two chapter typed before I post one so that I have leeway for when I get lazy or hit a writers block but not this time! I just really wanted to post it...sorry if I take a long time to post chapters...I can be bad for that. Although I was generally good with my first story but I was laid off and had 3 months to write and since I'm working again I don't have as much time. Not to mention my job is like a vampire that sucks out all my creativity...I think I need a vacation.

I was actually thinking of splitting my other story into two since it does cover two seasons of the show and calling this three. I don't know what do you all think? I also have started a Sano/OC story(not posted, still working on it) and recently thought about doing one for Souji since I like my version of Souji so much...maybe I'll give him a girlfriend in this story, we'll see. Anyways I hope you all enjoy.

P.S. I so did not proof-read this so I'm so sorry for the errors its bound to be loaded with. I'll get around to fixing them eventually. ;)

Edit: I have now proofread this chapter so hopefully it doesn't come across so awkward and error filled, although I do miss things sometimes

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Hakuoki or its characters...do we still need to do disclaimers?

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Kaiya stared out at the beautiful garden that stretched out before her. It was supposed to soothe one's soul but with the current state of events that were happening only a few days' journey away, she felt unsettled. It had been two months since she had left Kyoto with an injured Kondou and Souji. From what she had heard from the weekly updates that Kondou received, the war had stagnated; no one was really making any progress.

All out battle had broken out only weeks after the three of them had gone to Osaka Castle. Kaiya had to work hard to keep Kondou in Osaka Castle, he was insistent that he needed to rejoin the front lines. While Kaiya too wanted to return to where her friends and husband were, she couldn't let Kondou nor Souji return to front lines. Souji's injuries had been more critical than Kondou's and with his already weakened body, he was taking longer to heal. Kaiya also couldn't help but wonder if part of the reason for Kondou's dramatically quicker healing was due to sheer stubbornness.

Ryunosuke suddenly appeared came charging towards her. "Kaiya-chan! You're needed immediately!" He hollered at her. He had appeared here at the castle a week after they'd arrived and warned them of and impending attack in Kyoto.

Kaiya quickly got to her feet and followed after him as he led the way. They entered into a room just as a stretcher was carried into the room by men wearing Shinsengumi haori's. When Kaiya saw who was laying on it, her heart nearly stopped. Yamazaki laid on a stretcher looking like death.

Kaiya immediately bent over him and started inspecting his wounds. "What happened to him? How long has he been like this?" She asked as she turned him over when she didn't see any injury on his torso.

"Hijikata-dono had sent Yukimura-san and Inoue-san to ask for reinforcements from Yodo Castle, on their way back they came across enemy forces. Inoue-san was critically injured as well; he should be here momentarily. Hijikata-dono, got worried and went to check on them and I think Yamazaki-san got worried about Hijikata-dono and followed after him. All I know is that he stepped in front of Hijikata-dono to take a blow. Yukimura-san did all he could for them but these injuries are beyond his skill."

Kaiya inspected the wound on Yamazaki's back. It was deep and infection had set in, things weren't looking good for him. "How long ago was he injured?" Kaiya asked sharply as Ryunosuke plunked her surgical kit beside her.

"We got here as quickly as we could, about two days. Inoue-san is worse."

Kaiya pulled out a syringe and the only bottle of penicillin that she owned and inject it into Yamazaki's body. She had happened into the penicillin on a visit to the Kyoto docks, where they had a trading market that had rare and expensive goods. Kaiya turned to Ryunosuke as the other stretcher carrying Gen, came in.

"Warm some water for a tea and steep these leaves." Kaiya pulled a bundle of leaves out of her kit. "It should help strengthen his body to help him heal and fight infection."

"On it!" Ryunosuke said as he grabbed the leaves from her and took off running.

Kaiya moved over to Gen, there was nothing more she could do for Yamazaki at the moment. Unlike Yamazaki who only had the one injury, Gen had three bullet wounds and had been run through with a katana. There were no exit wounds for the bullet wounds but lucky for him, all the holes where in his shoulders while the blade had passed through his abdomen. Kaiya felt around his abdomen and felt a pocket fluids building up.

"Open every door and window and get me some lanterns. I need as much light as possible, Gen-san needs surgery; he's bleeding internally." Kaiya ordered.

"Yes sensei!" They all said in unison.

Kaiya pulled out her ten blade after applying a numbing agent to the surgical area and cut into his stomach. Immediately blood came pouring out, Kaiya grabbed several cloths that Ryunosuke had stacked beside her and started shoving them into the incision she had made.

"Is that supposed to happened?" One of the men asked as he set a lit lantern down beside her.

"Not exactly but that's why in needed to open him up, he's bleeding to death. Get me a bucket of water and a cup or something I can scoop the water out with." Kaiya quickly pulled out the soiled rags. The cloth had soaked enough blood up for her to be able to see the extent of the damage inside the body cavity. The man was going to be down to one kidney when she was done, the one was beyond saving; it had nearly been cut in half and was the major source of bleeding.

Half way through the surgery both Kondou and Souji appeared. Kondou immediately went to Gen's side, Gen was one Kondou's closest friends. Souji just slowly slid down to the ground and sat back against the wall, pain plainly written on his face.

Kaiya looked up briefly enough to glare at the both of them before looking down again to resume her work. "You both should be resting in bed!" She said tersely.

Kondou ignored her comment. "Is Gen-kun going to be alright? What about Yamazaki-kun?" He asked as he stared down sadly at Gen.

"At this point it all depends on them." Kaiya said as she finally freed Gen's damaged kidney and plunked it into a dish that Ryunosuke had brought.

Kondou looked down at it in shock. "Kaiya-chan what are you doing?" He asked in shock.

Kaiya smirked briefly. "It's just a kidney, we all have two but we can survive with just one. This one nearly got cut in half and there's no way I'll be able to fix it. If you want to be useful Kondou-san, monitor his breathing and let me know if it stops."

"I can do that!" Kondou said.

Kaiya looked over her shoulder at Souji. "You, on the other hand need to return to bed, Souji."

"They're my friends too, Kai!" Souji said sternly.

"And can't help your friends by re-injuring yourself." Kaiya retorted back.

"I'm just sitting here; I'm not doing anything!" Souji groused.

Kaiya focused again on Gen, too busy to bother arguing with Souji further at the moment. Another hour later Kaiya had finally sewed up all the damage in his abdomen and cut the last stitch closing his flesh. Kaiya was fairly certain that he still had bullets in both shoulders but at the moment he wasn't strong enough for Kaiya to be able to pull them out. If he was still alive in a few days, she'd make the attempt to find them if he was strong enough.

Kaiya sat back and stretched her arms and back. Kondou looked at her eagerly. "So?" He asked.

"I fixed all the damage but like I said before, its up to him whether he survives but I'll do my best to give him a fighting chance." Kaiya responded. "Quite frankly its surprising he even made it here alive let alone through the surgery. That tells me he's fighting to live, which is good. Now you two need to return to your beds and let me do my job, I'll update you two later."

Kondou sighed. "Fine. Let's go Souji." Kondou got up and walked over to Souji and helped him to his feet then helped him limp off to his room.

Kaiya quickly finished cleaning the incisions and bullet wounds, put some antiseptic on them, then dressed the wounds. When she was done she moved back over to Yamazaki and examined him once more. She looked up at Ryunosuke.

"His breathing seems to be better and his fever is down also. Thank you for watching over him and everything else you've done for us; you didn't need to help us." Kaiya bowed her head. "Thank you and sorry for Souji pushing you into the river. It was his strange way of showing mercy while still following his orders."

"From what Okita-san said I really owe _you_ an apology." Ryunosuke said sadly.

Kaiya frowned. "What do you mean?"

"He told me that Serizawa-san forced himself on you that night…and I stuck up for him," Ryunosuke bowed his head. "I felt pity for him. He was sick…but nothing can excuse what he did to you and I'm sorry."

Kaiya shook her head. "No, don't be. It's not your fault. It's not a bad thing to try and find the good qualities in a person. And besides, that would have happened sooner if you hadn't rescued me." Kaiya said softly.

Ryunosuke shook his head. "All I did was get Saitou-san…oh speaking of which I heard that you married him!"

Kaiya smiled. "Yes I did but unfortunately we only had about a month together before Kondou-san and Souji got shot, I haven't seen him since I left.

Ryunosuke was about to respond but was interrupted by Yamazaki groaning. Kaiya touched his shoulder and bent over him. "Yamazaki-kun?"

His eyes fluttered open and he smiled weakly as they rested on Kaiya. "Kaiya-chan." He breathed. "Aren't I lucky to be seen to by such a skillful surgeon."

"That's right, so you can't ruin my reputation by dying on me! So you have to fight!" Kaiya said as she gently stroked his head.

He smiled again. "We can't have that, so I'll do my best."

"Do you think you can drink some tea?" She asked him.

"I'll try."

Ryunosuke brought over the pot of tea he had made earlier. It had now cooled but it would still do its job. He poured a cup and handed it to Kaiya who gently lifted Yamazaki's head and put the cup to his lips and tipped it back slowly. After a sip, he coughed once and made a face but dutifully continued to drink. When he was finished his cup, Kaiya gently set his head back down.

Yamazaki made a breathing sound that she assumed was his attempt at laughing. "Now I know what Saitou-san and Okita-san where complaining about. That stuff is truly awful but I've seen it work miracles, so I'll keep drinking it when you tell me too."

Three days later, Kaiya decided that Gen had gained enough strength that she could remove the bullets from his shoulder. The surgery had gone successfully, with her finding all the bullets with minimal fuss. Gen was still on the fence and could die any day but Kaiya was going to fight tooth and nail to keep him alive. He was her friend too and Kaiya couldn't bare to see the sadness on Kondou's face if he lost a close friend. As it was, she was having a hard time keeping him in Osaka; he was desperate to return to the front lines. It didn't help when they had received word that Hijikata had resorted to taking the Water of Life in order to fight Kazama by himself in order to save Chizuru.

Things had started to go their way some what though. The Shinsengumi had led an attack on the Choshu-Satsuma headquarters and managed to secure their cannons and a cache of higher quality guns then what the Shinsengumi had been able to secure months before. Apparently the attack had been led by her husband Hajime and would not have been successful if they hadn't acquired their own guns. Apparently Shinpachi had lead an attack on the enemy's front gate and while he didn't get through, him and his unit had dealt a heavy blow to their numbers.

Kaiya desperately wanted to be out there with them but Hijikata had left Kondou and Souji in her care and she couldn't let either one of them leave here just yet.

A week later Kaiya sat at her desk late one night working on her research to find a way to reverse the Water of Life. Ever since receiving news that Hijikata was now a fury, Kaiya had doubled her efforts. She was also very concerned with the effects it was starting to have on Sannan. Usually after so much time passed, most furies went crazy. Sannan had long since passed that mark and was scared that any day now, she'd receive news that he too had finally gone crazy.

Kaiya startled slightly when a knock came at her door. Kaiya looked at the door. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Kaiya-chan." Came Kondou's voice.

Kaiya wipe the shocked expression from her face. "Come in! What brings you here at this hour?" She asked once he closed the door behind him.

"Is that the research you've been doing?" He asked indicating the instrumentation in front of her.

"I'm close, very close! I can feel it! But I'm missing something, I just haven't been able to figure out what that is…but that's not why you came here, is it?" Kaiya studied Kondou carefully. He had his Commander face on like he was about to force her to do something she wasn't going to like.

"I'm returning to the Shinsengumi tomorrow…" Kondou started.

"I don't think that's…" Kaiya started to interrupt.

He looked at her firmly while he held his hand up to silence her. "I wasn't asking for your permission. It is what I am doing and you cannot persuade me otherwise. In fact, I want to take you with me. The Shinsengumi is now without a doctor and there is no better than you."

Kaiya frown. "What about Souji? Or Gen-san and Yamazaki-kun?"

"Souji is well on his way, he should be able to join us in a month or two. You said that yourself and Gen-san and Yamazaki-kun are both out of the woods. All our injured are being sent to some allies near Edo. Rumour has it that the enemy is planning on attacking Osaka, so we are sending them away for their safety…Souji really isn't going to like that." Kondou let out a tired sigh. "Anyways its either you come with me or you go with the others to Osaka and I want you with me. You would have a better chance at testing your research there anyways, since that's where all the furies are…what's left of them anyways. I don't want to order you Kaiya-chan but I will make it an order if I have to."

Kaiya sighed. "Well I can't and won't disobey you but your shoulder isn't ready for you to get in a fight! Please at least promise me that you'll avoid getting into a fight unless absolutely necessary?"

Kondou smiled slightly. "I'll do my best. I still won't be seeing any action for a couple weeks at least anyways. We still have to make plans for our own attacks, that's why I have to go. They are waiting for my return, Toshi is going wear out soon from what I hear. If you want to worry about anybody its him."

Kaiya shook her head. "Why doesn't that surprise me." She let out a sigh. "I can't deny that this is what I want. With all that's going on out there and I'm sitting here! Practically doing nothing! Its been hard."

"Yes it has been." Kondou suddenly smiled slyly. "I'm sure you're anxious to see your husband as well."

Kaiya laughed. "Yes that would be nice too. Although I'm sure he's happy I'm away from the danger, one less thing for him to worry about."

"That almost makes me feel bad for wanting to bring you along but the needs of the many out weigh the needs of a husband and an overbearing cousin." Kondou finally got to his feet. "Now I suggest you get some sleep; we'll be leaving at first light which is only a few hours away." Kondou turned and left the room.

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So? What do you think? Its a little shorter than some of my other chapters, especially my opening chapters but this seemed like a good place to end the chapter! Anyways R&R!

P.S. I'm Canadian so rumour is correct despite what my auto-correct says :( I even looked it up in case my tired brain was remembering wrong but I'm right! :)

-Shockra


	2. Chapter 2

Hey! So here's the newest chapter! I hope you all enjoy it. This one was proof read so hopefully I didn't miss too many mistakes! Enjoy!

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A few days later, Kaiya stumbled along tiredly behind Kondou as they walked down at street towards a strange compound in a small town just outside of Kyoto. Kondou knew they were only a few hours a way, so instead of stopping when the sunset, they continued on. It was nearly pitch black outside as they continued trudging through the mud, it nearly midnight. They had left Osaka a little later than Kondou had planned due to various of delays, which just domino over the following days. What should have been a day and a half trip ended up being over just two days.

Thankfully Kondou had learned from his last trip and had brought with him a fairly large retinue as well as some new recruits from Osaka. Kaiya had been fortunate to be allowed to ride on the back of Kondou's horse with him for most of the journey but when it had started to pour, they had both dismounted as the horse was having issues with footing in the slick mud.

So now, for the last three hours, Kaiya had been marching with the others in the mud and rain, shivering cold and beyond exhausted. When the gate finally came into view, Kaiya nearly ran forward to bang on the closed gates but that'd be extremely unwise, she'd probably get shot.

Kondou finally came to a stop well short of the gate. "Open the gate!" Kondou hollered loudly trying to make himself heard overtop of the sound of the pounding rain.

A head suddenly popped over the side of the wall. "Who goes there?" Came the response.

"Kondou Isami, Commander of the Shinsengumi has returned!" He called back.

The head quickly disappeared and a short while later the gates were thrown wide opened. As the tail end of their group passed into the compound and the gates boomed shut, Hijikata appeared with a wide smile on his face.

"Kondou-san, we expected you yesterday. I was just thinking about sending out a search party to find you, I thought you might have gotten lost!" He said nudging him gently in the ribs.

Kondou laughed, "We kept running into delay after delay but we're here now. Let's go inside out of this cold rain." Kondou indicated for Kaiya to follow as the moved towards the nearest building and stepped up onto the covered walkway.

Kaiya didn't even bother to try to pay attention to where they were going, it was too dark and she was too tired to be able tell certain areas apart. Hijikata finally came to a stop and slid a door open and walked into the room. Kaiya could tell there were several people within before she saw them, as the all started talking as soon as Kondou stepped into the light.

When Kaiya stepped across the threshold she saw Heisuke, Sannan, Sanosuke, Shinpachi, Shimada, Chizuru and most important to her, Hajime. When he saw her enter he smiled gently and immediately approached her. Ignoring the others entirely, he tipped her chin up and gently kissed her.

"I'd hug you but you're soaking wet and covered in mud." He said to her quietly.

Kaiya chuckled. "Sorry I didn't arrive in a palanquin."

"Kaiya-chan!" Heisuke practically shouted happily. He practically elbowed Hajime out of his way and grabbed her shoulders and smiled at her excitedly. "The letter we received didn't sound certain whether you were coming or not."

Kondou chuckled. "I didn't have to work on her as hard as I thought I might. I thought for sure I'd have to order her to come with me but she certainly isn't happy with _me_ being here." He rubbed his head and he laughed some more.

Hijikata frowned. "Is he not ready?"

Kaiya crossed her arms and did her best to not scowl at Kondou. "Depends on who's opinion you're asking. It's been made clear that my opinion doesn't matter in this matter."

Kondou frowned. "Obviously we are at odds on this matter." He gave her a less than impressed look.

Hijikata let out a huff of air and raised his hands. "Alright its late and you two have been travelling for a couple of days. Kondou-san I'll show you where your rooms are and Saitou, I'm sure you can take care of Kaiya-chan."

"Of course." Hajime replied.

"The rest of you, return to your rooms also. We've all had a long day and tomorrow is unlikely to be easy either. Go." Hijikata waved his hand at them with a shooing motion. The others dispersed and Hajime touched the small of her back and indicated for her to follow him.

They stepped out on to the walk way and Kaiya grabbed Hajime's hand as he walked deeper in to the facility. After travelling down a few more walkways he stopped at a smaller door and opened it. The room was smaller then they previously had but Kaiya did not care, it was a room with a roof and a futon and the best part, Hajime.

She let him lead her in and she closed the door behind them as he bent over and lit a lantern. The futon was laid out on the floor and showed signs of having been slept in and it looked oh so inviting.

Hajime came back to her pulled her sword from her obi and started untying the front of her kimono. "You must be cold in these wet clothes; I hope you brought clean clothes. I only have your fancy Kimono's that belonged to your mother."

Kaiya looked down and pulled his hands away and finished untying her first layer then the second and then pulled the edges of her kimono open. Hajime's eyes never left her chest as she slid her kimono off her shoulders and let it drop to the ground. She placed one hand on his chest and with the other she tilted his chin up so that he would look her in the eye instead staring at her chest.

"Does it really matter right now?" She said with a smirk on her face.

He ran his hands down her bare sides. "Not particularly."

He kissed her deeply then pulled her legs up around his waist. He walked over to the futon while still kissing her and down to his knees. Kaiya put one arm back to support her own weight as he bent over and put her down on the futon, then he unhitched her legs from around his waist and started removing his own clothing. Once the last stitch of cloth was removed from his body, he covered the now shivering woman beneath him with his own body pulling the blanket over top of them both.

The next morning Kaiya reluctantly got up bright and early and met with Hijikata in his own quarters. When she knocked at the door he called for her to come in. She opened the door and found him sitting at his desk writing.

"Take a seat." He said without even glancing at her.

She sat there silently for several long moments waiting for him to acknowledge her and when he did, she was shocked with how gaunt and tired his face looked.

"Kaiya-cha…" He started.

"When was the last time you slept or eaten for that matter?" She asked as she got closer and gently grabbed his face and looked him in the eye.

He grabbed her hand and scowled on her. "You aren't here to inspect my health; in fact, you are here to tell me about Kondou-san's."

"I was concerned about him but it appears he was right; I should be more worried about you!" She said not willing to back down.

"Hijikata-san! I'm coming in!" Chizuru's voice suddenly called interrupting them.

She opened the door and paused when she saw Kaiya and Hijikata staring each other down. "Um, should I come back?"

Kaiya glanced over at her and noticed the tray in her hands "No, why don't you put it down right in front of Hijikata-kun." She said as she moved to the side. She looked back at Hijikata. "If you eat all of the food on that tray I will answer any and all of your questions."

"Are you seriously giving me an ultimatum?" He asked, his scowl deepening. "Do you really think that's wise? I can just command you to tell me."

"I'm fairly certain Kondou-san will take my side in this matter. I'm supposed to be the physician here yet neither you nor Kondou-san seem to want to take my advice. If you can't take my advice why should the others? Why am I here?" Kaiya closed her eyes and sighed, when she opened them again her expression softened. "You are my friend, my family, Hijikata-kun, not just my commanding officer. So please, if you truly respect me and care for me than you will take care of yourself and eat."

Hijikata's face softened and then he let out a soft chuckle. "Sometimes I think there can't possible be any relation between you and Souji, you're much to kind…most of the time. Then there are moments like now, where you can definitely tell you two are related. You both speak your mind, no matter how cruel the words can be."

Kaiya gave him a dejected look. "My words weren't cruel." She groused.

"How about I eat and you talk. Is that fair?" Hijikata said as he picked up his chopsticks.

Kaiya couldn't help but notice Chizuru scrutinizing Hijikata carefully, like she didn't believe that he'd actually eat. "Fine, I'll go a long with that." Kaiya replied then motioned him to start eating. When he finally put the first piece of food in his mouth Kaiya started talking.

"The bullet hole in Kondou-san's shoulder has mostly closed which has him mistakenly believing that its basically healed. He refuses to acknowledge the fact that he can't lift his arm past his shoulder and that the wound is still tender to the touch. He also still tires fairly easy due to his loss of blood but he is one heck of a stubborn man." Kaiya crossed her arms and broodingly looked away.

"Yes he is." Hijikata said with a sigh. "Just leave him to me. He should be fine doing paper work and diplomatic type things, right?"

Kaiya motioned him to continue eating then answered. "So long as he doesn't push himself too hard that should be fine."

"What of the others?" Hijikata asked.

"Souji's injuries have nearly healed but with combination of his tuberculosis, his body has weakened quite a bit." Replied Kaiya.

Hijikata frowned "Is it getting worse then?"

Kaiya paused for a moment to think of her answer, then finally said. "I don't think his _disease_ has progressed, its just his body is struggling to fight the disease and heal his wounds at the same time. His injuries were slightly more extensive than Kondou-san. Yamazaki-kun is doing extremely well, he will probably even be back before Souji."

"Really?" Chizuru asked then looked down when she saw Hijikata look at her side ways. "Sorry." She mumbled.

Kaiya smiled at her brightly. "Don't apologize Chizuru, he is your friend just like he is mine."

"What about Gen-san? He was in worse shape than Yamazaki." Hijikata inquired.

Kaiya have him meaningful look than indicated his half eaten meal. When he resumed eating Kaiya answered. "You're right, Gen-san was and still is in pretty bad condition. I'm surprised he even made it to Osaka let alone through the following surgery. He has one less kidney and whether he was going to survive was still up in the air when we left."

"That bad?" Guilty expressions crossed both Chizuru and Hijikata's face.

"Gen-san shouldn't have even made it to Osaka. He's a fighter, if anybody can overcome those type of injuries its him." Kaiya said confidently.

Chizuru looked down sadly. "It's my fault he got hurt, he was protecting me. If I was more like you, Kaiya-chan, that probably wouldn't have happened."

"If you were more like me, than you'd probably both end up hurt. Even you can only heal so much." Kaiya said firmly.

"She's right, Chizuru. You'd only have gotten yourself hurt. I hate to say it but its probably a good thing Kazama arrived when he did." Hijikata said frowning as he put his chopsticks down.

"Kazama?" Kaiya asked. "He's the one who keeps on trying to take Chizuru, right?"

"Yes he is." Hijikata said with extreme irritation. Kaiya couldn't help but smile, he was obviously jealous. "He was trying to take her then too. He helpfully killed off their attackers and talked long enough for me to get there."

"May I ask what was she doing so far from the battle?" Kaiya asked curiously.

"Getting backup, they were on their way back to me to inform me that they were on their way but ran into four armed men. They took aim at them and shot Gen-san as he was charging them, if Kazama hadn't arrived when he did then Gen-san's injuries would have been considerably worse and he most certainly wouldn't have made it."

"Did you at least finish him off considering the price you paid?" Kaiya asked looking at him sternly.

He glared hard at her. "Careful Kaiya-chan, don't forget your place; friend or not. And no, Amagiri and Yamazaki interfered before the battle could be decided and he fled, like always." Hijikata looked at Chizuru. "Why don't you show Kaiya-chan where the medical area is, Chizuru? There are many in desperate need of her help."

Chizuru nodded and got to her feet taking the now empty tray with her. Once the two of them were outside of Hijikata's room, Chizuru looked over at Kaiya.

"Do you mind if we stop at the kitchen on the way?" Chizuru asked.

"No of course not. I'll need to know where it is eventually anyways." Kaiya replied.

Chizuru nodded and continued forward, leading her down a maze of halls. "So." Kaiya started. "How much sleep does he get?"

Chizuru smiled sadly. "Almost none. Hijikata-san barely eats; he only drinks my tea most of the time. Him eating a full meal is a miracle."

"Well I'll keep on harassing him to eat but only you can get him to sleep." Kaiya said with a mischievous smile.

"I _have_ tried! I ask him all the time! But he just says there's too much work to be done." Chizuru made a pouty face as she set Hijikata's empty tray down by the sink.

"There's more than one way to ask him." Kaiya poked her head out of the door way to see if there was anyone nearby then walked back over to Chizuru and touched her arm as she asked quietly. "You're still together right? Dating?"

Chizuru's face started turning red. "Um yeah I think so but he hasn't kissed me in a month though, he's barely looked at me."

Kaiya frowned, "Then make him look at you! I know things are turbulent right now but he's only a man. Even he if can heal at an insane rate and is abnormally strong."

"But I don't know how to do that…" Chizuru said meekly.

Kaiya chuckled. "You're so young and adorably innocent, Chizuru! Undoubtedly one of the reason's why he fell in love with you in the first place. Okay listen to me. Tonight when everyone is sleeping, go to him, don't let him ignore you. Just go into his room whether he invites you in or not. If he won't look at you then grab his face and make him look at you and kiss him…passionately. Trust me he'll be a lot more co-operative." Kaiya paused briefly to study Chizuru then asked. "Have you ever been together?"

Chizuru's face was now the colour of an apple. "Together?"

"Yeah you know, intimately?" Kaiya was smiling ear to ear now, maybe enjoying watching Chizuru squirm a little too much.

"N-no!" Chizuru looked mortified.

Kaiya chuckled. "Well that'll definitely get him in bed _and_ improve his mood. I'm not pressuring you to do that, I'm just suggesting it."

"The medical area is right this way." Chizuru said as she quickly escaped.

Kaiya smiled as she trotted to catch up with Chizuru's retreating form. She didn't slow down until she stepped in a busy room packed with injured soliders. Kaiya stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the all the injured people.

"Sensei!" Several of the men said with enthusiasm when they spotted her.

Kaiya looked at Chizuru. "Who's been looking after these men?" She asked her.

"Mostly me. Yamazaki-san gave me all of your notes and your medical journals a few days before full out war broke out but this far out my skill set." She replied.

"Well then show me the most seriously injured first and I'll work things out from there." She instructed.

Time flew by and before she knew it, it was once again dark outside. During the day she had organized the patients in to sections putting all of the most critical patients together in one area and the minor injuries in another. She discharged as many patients as was possible. There were several with bullet wounds and lacerations that were in minor places and far from death that could recover in the barracks.

As the day had wound down, she'd finally taken a seat at her desk and reviewed the notes that Yamazaki had been keeping up until he'd gotten injured. Unfortunately, Chizuru hadn't continued but there wasn't a lot she could do except clean and bandage wounds so her notes wouldn't have helped to much anyways. Suddenly the book she'd been journaling in disappeared from in front of her. When she looked up she saw Hajime standing there with her journal in one hand and a tray in the other.

He smiled down a her as he knelt down and set the tray in front of her. "Yukimura said that she didn't think it was likely that you had eaten today."

Kaiya bent over and kissed him on the lips. "How long were standing there?" She asked as she picked up her chopsticks.

"Not terribly long. I've learnt that if you don't hear me call your name after the first time its unlikely you'll notice me at all." He said with a smirk.

"Hardy har har." She said as she laughed.

"Seriously though, you should be more aware. Things are exponentially more dangerous then when you were with us last." Hajime reached a cross and stroked her cheek.

"You're right, I'll be more careful." Kaiya suddenly frown as she noticed a gash on the back of his hand that hadn't been there this morning. She reached a cross her tray and grabbed his hand and he just rolled her eyes.

"It's just a scratch, it barely bled. Don't bother yourself, Kaiya." He said with a huff.

"What kind of doctor would I be if I didn't look after my own husband?" She said as she got to her feet and rummaged through her remedies and found an anti-septic cream. She sat down again directly beside him reached for his hand. With a sigh he held out his hand and surrendered to her doctoring. Once she finished wrapping his hand, he grabbed her tray of food and put it down in front her again.

"Finish eating and then let's go to bed." He said firmly.

* * *

Yay! She's back! Let me know what you think!

-Shockra


	3. Chapter 3

Hey everybody! Sorry it took so long to post this chapter I got a little stumped in some areas! I doesn't help that I've been working on a second Hakuoki story, the one I mentioned in the first chapter. A Sanosuke/OC story. Once I'm done with this one I'll probably start publishing it too! It'd probably be unwise to publish two stories at once, one or the other would get neglected. I hope you all enjoy!

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Two Weeks Later

Kaiya and all the captains, with the exception of Souji, crammed into the small room and waited for Hijikata and Kondou to arrive. This was the first time Kaiya had seen them all in one place since she had first arrived and it made her very happy to watch them interact. Things were quite boisterous, not quite as loud as they used to be due to exhaustion and just plain old life but they still laughed and teased each other. Today, interestingly, Sanosuke and Shinpachi were determined to make Hajime blush.

"OI, Saitou! Been getting action in the sack lately? Kaiya-chan's been so busy lately, I don't see how that'd be possible." Sanosuke said as he nudged Hajime in the ribs, after haven been harping on him for several minutes on various other subjects.

"We find the time." Hajime said coolly while he took a sip from his tea, as Kaiya gave Sanosuke a dirty look.

Shinpachi laughed loudly and shoved his way in between Kaiya and Hajime and plopped down, slapping Hajime on the back. "Don't go there Sano unless you want Kaiya-chan to stab you with her knife. I've seen it up her sleeve many times!"

"You mean this?" Kaiya asked as she pulled out the said knife and shoved it under Shinpachi's nose.

Shinpachi laughed as he pushed her hand away from his face. "Yeah that's the one!" He paused and held on to her hand for a moment to stared at the blade. "Hey that's a nice blade! Where'd you get that?" He asked, seeming genuinely intrigued.

Kaiya smiled as put the knife back in it sheath, that was in her sleeve. "Hajime gave it to me a long time ago." She replied.

"Really? Like how long ago?" Shinpachi asked.

"Oi. Enough of the Q and A, you're supposed to be helping me with Saitou!" Sanosuke said complained as he reached across Hajime to push Shinpachi.

"Aww its impossible to get under his skin. Now if it was to harrass the small fry over there." Shinpachi said indicating Heisuke sitting all alone on the other side of the room. "I'd be in."

"Hey!" Heisuke protested.

"Oh I don't think its that hard to get under Hajime's skin, you just need to know where to poke him." Kaiya said innocently as she lifted her food to her lips.

Sanosuke suddenly got up and sat down on the other side of her while Shinpachi leaned in closer. "Alright I'm all ears." Sanosuke said with a huge mischevious grin on his face.

Kaiya looked down at Hajime who still looked like he was eating his food calmly but was glaring at her from the corner of his eye giving her the stink eye.

"I think it's already working." She said cheekily causing to two to turn and look at Hajime. "The trick is being able to see through that calm exterior. He gets more irritated at things than you realize, the trick is to get him to show it."

"That maybe so but she's extremely ticklish." Hajime retorted coolly.

This time it was Kaiya's to turn to give him the stink eye. From the corner of her eye Kaiya saw Shinpachi get a devious look on his face, then saw as he looked passed her at Sanosuke. "Don't you dare!" Kaiya warned shaking her finger at him.

"What? Do this?" She heard Sanosuke say from behind her, then felt him dig his fingers into her side and started tickling her. Kaiya immediately clamped her elbows down on her sides trying to protect herself and tried to kick at Sanosuke but got nothing but air.

Unfortunately, her attempt to kick Sanosuke opened her up for a tickle attack on her neck. In less than five seconds she was a heap of laughing goop on the ground trying to shove and kick Sanosuke and Shinpachi away. She got a few second reprieve as Heisuke got to his feet and shoved Shinpachi.

"Come on guy's stop being so mean! Hajime-kun! Do something!" She heard him say then heard a thump and then Shinpachi resumed helping Sanosuke try and tickle her to death.

"What the hell?! Harada, Shinpachi get off of her!" She heard Hijikata holler. She looked up as the tickling stopped and saw Hijikata staring at Hajime in disbelief. "Other side!" He said as he glared at the other two.

As the two jumped to their feet and tried to quickly retreat to the other side, Kaiya lashed out with her leg, tripping Sanosuke and having him land flat on his face. Heisuke, Shinpachi and even Hijikata burst out laughing. They all watched Sanosuke pick himself up and dust himself off, face red from embarrassment. When Kaiya sat up she glared at Hajime angrily.

When he noticed her glaring at him, he looked at her and smirked. Kaiya frown deepened then shoved him hard, knocking him over which only caused him to chuckle.

"Jerk!" She growled at him.

"All right everybody! Settle down!" Hijikata said trying to hide the smirk on his face as he sat down. "Kondou-san will be here momentarily."

Kaiya crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from Hajime. As if on queue, Kondou walked through the door but stopped just inside the door and looked around and took in the environment. Heisuke and Shinpachi were still ribbing Sanosuke quietly with big goofy smiles on their faces, while Sanosuke chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Hajime had just finished picking himself off of the ground and was straightening himself out still smirking and looking at Kaiya sidelong.

"Well aren't you all lively today!" He said as he sat down beside Hijikata. "As much as I hate to ruin your jolly mood, I'm afraid I have to get straight to business." Everybody sobered up and listened intently as Kondou continued. "It seems we'll be mobilizing in the next few weeks. We've been ordered to take control of Akashi Castle and to hold it at all costs. It should only take a day maybe two with the size of our troop to get to the castle."

"Why Akashi? Why not move in on Kyoto again?" Shinpachi asked.

"We are trying to prevent our enemies from being able to move East and prevent the other small factions, from moving west. Right now the Satsuma/Choshu are our biggest enemy but there several smaller factions popping up all over the country. We have been tasked holding the pass between Kyoto and Osaka, Akashi Castle is the best place to do that." Kondou responded.

"What about Kyoto? Its still a battle ground." Sanosuke inquired.

"Our allies are still fighting for it, they are slowly making progress thanks to the cannons and other more advanced weaponry we were able to acquire from Saitou's successful raid." Hijikata responded this time. "On a different but related note. Our allies are all dressing western clothing, so shall we. I've placed an order for clothing for all of you."

Kaiya quirked an eyebrow. "Even me?" She asked.

"Well…no, not you. I have no idea what that would entail." Hijikata replied somewhat sheepishly.

"Well, I don't like western women's clothing. It's more restrictive then our clothing and can be even heavier…and almost no pockets." She said with a frown. "Men's clothing is lighter and may offer more movement but I'd rather not." Kaiya said firmly.

"You don't need to change, Kaiya-chan." Kondou replied. "You won't be spending much time in the battlefield, anyways. It's much to dangerous out there with those guns and your skills are more needed behind the lines."

Kaiya wasn't particularly happy to hear that but nodded her head regardless, while Hajime let out a quiet sigh of relief.

A week later Kaiya sat at her desk filling in her health ledger with the day's patients when Hajime entered with a pile of clothing and a pair of scissors sitting on top. He set the clothing down then approached her with the scissors in hand and sat down behind her and put the scissors on the desk. He started messaging her back then moved up to her shoulders then slowly worked his way up again to her neck.

"Can I help you?" She asked with a slight bit of irritation in her voice. Even though it had been a week, she was still fuming over his behavior. It didn't help that they hadn't had a lot of time to talk.

"Are you still mad?" He asked as he moved her hair aside and pulled the collar of her kimono down and started kissing her neck.

"Yes." She replied simply as she pushed his head away.

Hajime sighed and resumed messaging her back. "I already apologized, what else can I do?"

"Not saying stupid things like that to those guys! They are going to tormenting me for all of eternity. Souji would have at least defended me from them and Heisuke at least tried." She said angrily swatting his hands away. "Unlike you I wouldn't have actually told them, I was dangling it." She continued peevishly.

"They try to harass me all the time, I was just deflecting them away from me." He said trying to sound innocent.

"So you sicked them on to your wife like pack of rabid dogs, real heroic. Why not deflect them onto Heisuke or turn them against each other? You don't have to sleep with _them_." Kaiya said irritably. "You're lucky it cold right now."

"I'm sorry." He said actually sound apologetic for the first time. "You're right that was very stupid and inconsiderate of me." He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. "I apologize." He murmured softly.

Kaiya sighed and put down the brush she'd been writing with. "Okay fine." She put her hands on his arms and leaned her head against his. "Apology accepted." She lifted her head again and looked at the scissors that he had set on her desk. "What's with these?" She asked picking them up.

"So you can cut my hair." He said simply.

She twisted herself around to look back at him. "You're going to cut your hair?" She asked astonished.

Hajime shrugged. "The others will be and it will go better with the western clothing. I figured you'd do a better job of cutting it than me."

Hajime scooted back as she turned around to look at him fully. "But I like your hair like it is."

"If you don't like it, I can grow it back later. Its just hair." He said indifferently.

Kaiya sighed and looked down at the scissors in her hand. "Fine. Let's do it outside though, I don't want to get hair all over the room." Kaiya grabbed the lamp on her desk as Hajime grabbed a second lamp from off of the floor and they walked outside. Hajime sat at the edge of the walkway and set the lamp down beside him while Kaiya knelt down behind him and pulled his hair over his shoulder so that it cascaded down his back. She then untied it and ran her fingers through his hair to straighten it then tied it together again further up.

Grabbing the scissors once more and then grabbed his hair with the other hand just behind the tie. Then after staring at it for a few seconds, she snipped the vast majority of his hair off. Kaiya stared in shock at the bundle of hair in her hand having a hard time believing she cut his beautiful hair, then with another sigh reached around Hajime and dropped it in his lap and continued cutting the rest of his hair to something she found satisfactory. The only thing she left somewhat long, was his bang which covered his face like it always did leave the rest with only a couple inches of length.

She then got up and went to their room, retrieved her mirror and walked back outside where Hajime was touching the back of his head. Dusting away the hair on the walkway she sat down beside him and handed him her mirror. While he stared at his reflection, she dusted the hair from his shoulders.

"What do you think?" He asked her.

She turned his chin to that she could look at him head on. She tousled and played with it a bit. "I have to admit; it does look good on you but I'll still miss your long hair." She picked up the bundle of hair which still lay in his lap and stared at it sadly.

"It certainly feels cooler, which will be nice during the summer but maybe annoying in the winter." Hajime said then got to his feet and extended his hand to her. "Come, let's go to bed."

Kaiya grabbed his hand and pulled herself up. "You're so not getting laid, mister. I'm still annoyed at you." She picked up her lamp and walked back into their room.

Hajime smiled as he picked up his lamp, the scissors and mirror and followed her in. He closed the door and set everything down on the desk, then approached Kaiya from behind as she started to remove her kimono. "Are you sure about that?" He asked as he kissed her neck.

She picked up his yukata and threw it over her shoulder at him. "Absolutely." She said as she slid her kimono off her shoulders and slipped into her own yukata and laid down in the futon she had already set out before Hajime had arrived.

Hajime sighed then he too got changed and laid down next to her. "Good night." He said.

She kissed him and said "Good night." Then turned away from him.

With another sigh he sidled up behind her and wrapped his arms around her and settled on going to sleep.

The next morning Kaiya helped Hajime into his western clothes. He grumbled a couple of times about all the buttons his clothes had. Once he was done she stepped back and looked him up and down.

"Well? Do I look ridiculous in these clothes?" He asked almost sounding self-conscious.

Kaiya smiled. "Are you kidding me, you look amazing!" She stepped forward again and wrapped her arms around him and kissed him passionately as she pressed herself up against him.

When she pulled back again he had a mischievous smile on his face. "Well I can already think of one draw back. It's much more difficult to remove my clothes easily." He replied then pulled her back in for another kiss.

A little while later the two of them entered into the main meeting room. Shinpachi was already in the room moving his arms and torso like he was trying to get a feel for the clothing. When he saw them enter, he smiled. While he already had short hair, the clothes made him look completely different.

"Hey Kaiya-chan, what do you think?" He said as he stretched his arms out.

"Still don't know how to cover up I see." She said laughing. "But it looks good on you."

Shinpachi looked at Hajime and smiled. "It's strange seeing you with so little hair Hajime-kun."

"How do you think I feel? My hair was longer than his!" Heisuke said as he entered the room. Kaiya covered her mouth trying to hide her laugh. "What?" He asked when he noticed her. "Did I put something on wrong?"

Kaiya cleared her throat. "No, you look fine. It's your hair, it makes you look some much younger!"

"Does it look bad?" He asked feeling self-conscious.

"No I think I actually prefer it that way. Girls won't be able to keep their hands off of you!" Kaiya responded.

"Then why were you laughing?" He asked somewhat irritably.

"Don't get mad because guys usually get mad when I say this." Heisuke indicated for her to continue. "You just looked so adorable!"

Heisuke flushed and Shinpachi burst out laughing. Suddenly Sanosuke popped in the doorway. "What's going on in here? You all sound awfully lively. What'd I miss?" He asked as he leaned up against the door way.

Sanosuke suddenly straightened up as he looked to his left. "Why are you dressed like that?" Kaiya heard Chizuru asked.

"Hijikata-san's orders." Sanosuke replied.

Heisuke made a quick escape and started talking to Chizuru. Kaiya leaned against Hajime and looked at the three guys in their new clothes as Heisuke, Sanosuke and Chizuru eventually walked into the room. Chizuru looked all of the guys in wonder then looked at Kaiya. "Are you not going to wear western clothes?" She asked Kaiya.

"Apparently they are too inconvenient." Hijikata said from his chair.

Kaiya nearly jumped out of her skin, having not previously noticed him. Kaiya put a hand to her heart. "Hijikata-kun, I hadn't noticed you there."

He smirked. "You should take in your environment a little more carefully."

Chizuru stopped in front of Hijikata and stared at him. He tipped his head to the side. "Is something wrong?" He asked her.

"N-no." Chizuru stammered. "You cut your hair."

Kaiya smiled at the two of them, pleased with the subtle progress they had made. "She's right you had really nice hair." Kaiya said.

"I-I didn't say that!" Chizuru said blushing.

"But you were implying it. Hajime had nice hair too." She said reaching up to run her hands through his hair, while he blushed and looked away, as Shinpachi and Sanosuke laughed. "It's weird seeing you all with short hair but you all look great!"

"Y-yes, you all look good!" Chizuru stuttered.

Suddenly the interior door slid open and Kondou appeared, looking the same as he always did. "Guys, are you all set?" He asked then smiled as he looked at them all.

"Kondou-san, aren't you going to wear western clothes?" Chizuru asked, sounding bewildered.

"Nah, that western clothing looks stifling." Kondou replied with a weird smile.

Kaiya chuckled. "I totally agree Kondou-san."

"It just doesn't feel right for a warrior to not bear his sword with hakama." Kondou continued.

Hijikata smiled at him. "You're fine the way you are. You just have to stand proud amidst our troops. Your very presence there will support the troops." He said proudly.

"You think?" He asked somewhat embarrassed.

Chizuru suddenly looked down at something and Hijikata followed her gaze. "It's Souji's. I had it made for him so that he can enter the war upon his return." He explained

Upon hearing her cousins name, Kaiya went to see what they were looking at. In a wooden box lay a set of clothing. Kaiya picked up the vest and looked at it. Kaiya looked over at Kondou.

"Do you think Souji would wear this?" Kaiya asked him. "Especially with you wearing your normal clothes. He really looks up to you, you know."

Kondou shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know why not, especially since Toshi's made it an order. Souji's not a little kid anymore, he doesn't see me the same as he used to."

"You don't see it, do you?" Kaiya asked as she shook her head in dismay.

Kondou looked at her confused. "See what?"

Kaiya smiled at him kindly. "Nothing, never mind."

He stared at her a moment longer then turned to everyone. "Alright, everybody. Prepare your units. We leave in a few days."

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So? I hope it was worth the wait! R&R!

-Shockra


	4. Chapter 4

Yay! Two chapters in one week! . Hopefully this makes up for the two week gap of the last two chapters! I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter! I hope you all enjoy it as well!

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A week after they arrived at Akashi castle, Kondou summoned Kaiya to his room. When she entered the room he sat at a table quietly playing a game of Go. He looked up at her and smiled.

"Kaiya-chan, take a seat!" He said, indicating the spot on the other side of the table across from him.

"Is there something I can do for you?" She asked as she sat down and he laid down another piece.

"Just a small but potentially lengthy task." He said mildly. "I've been get several letters from Souji insisting that he is healthy enough to return to active duty. I haven't given him the okay because, well you know what he's like."

"He'd say he's fine while lying on his death bed." Kaiya replied dryly.

Kondou chuckled. "Precisely. I've received no letter from any of the doctors looking after our men that'd suggest that he's ready to go, so I'd like to send you to Edo and check on him yourself. Yamazaki-kun is already on his way here, so we shouldn't be without a skilled doctor for too long. I know it may a little selfish of me to ask this of you." He said looking at her guiltily.

"Don't feel bad, I've been worrying about him since we left Osaka. Souji listens to me for the most part but I wasn't sure how well he'd listen to someone else." Kaiya said with a tired sigh. "I really would like to see him for myself. Would it be safe for me to go by myself though? I couldn't possibly take any of the men with me?"

"Toshi has business in Edo, so you'll be accompanying him. You'll both be on horseback in order to deal with things quickly. I need both of you back here as quickly as possible, that's why I'm sending you now." Kondou said.

"Like right now?" Kaiya asked shocked.

Kondou nodded his head. "Grab whatever you need, Toshi is likely already waiting for you already. Saitou-kun is out in the field right now so I'll notify him when he returns."

Kaiya bowed. "Thank you, Kondou-san. I'll be going now then." She said then got to her feet.

"Take care, Kaiya-chan. Don't do anything reckless." He said with a smirk as she walked to the door.

She stopped with a hand on the door. "You neither, I won't be here to piece to you back together." She said with a smile.

Kondou laughed and nodded as she turned and left the room. She quickly rushed to her room grabbed her sword and a few additional daggers. Hajime had been teaching her a new skill set ever since she'd returned, in attempt to give her a long range attack to give her time to close the distance between her and her opponent without being shot. While he admitted to not being very good at the skill himself, he was well aware of the mechanics of throwing daggers and shurikens and apparently Kaiya had a knack for it.

Once she'd gathered everything she needed she went to the gate and as Kondou had predicted, Hijikata was waiting for her with an impatient look on his face.

Kaiya bowed and smiled at him apologetically. "Sorry, I tried to be quick."

"Don't worry about it. Do you know how to ride?" He asked her.

"Yes, mostly. I haven't had a lot a of chance to do it but my father had taught me. I'll be fine don't worry about me." She said and then grabbed a pair of reins out of his hand.

"Are you sure?" He asked as she pulled the reins over the horse's head and approached its left side.

"Just get on your horse, I'll be fine." Kaiya said as she put her hand the front of the saddle and back of the seat.

"Do you need and hand up?" He asked approaching her.

Kaiya sighed, "You're like a worrying mother goose! Fine, give me a hand if it'll make you feel better." She huffed.

Hijikata frowned but cupped his hands for her to put her foot into and practically flung her on top of the horse and nearly over the other side. "Sorry, you're lighter then I'd expected." He murmured as he approached his own horse. Once he was up on his own horse, he turned the horses nose and set the horse off at a gallop.

Several hours later, they let their horses slow to a walk so they could catch their breath and relax for a time. Kaiya found it to be a perfect time to catch up with Hijikata a little. The man was so busy lately that the she barely ever caught sight of him let alone talked to him. She did try and check in on him every once in a while to make sure he wasn't pushing himself too hard but not nearly enough.

"This is really good for you, you know." She said to him.

"What is?" He asked looking at her sidelong.

"This! Getting away from the front lines, a break from the stress. You need to take a breather, even if its only for a few days." She replied.

"Now who's being a mother goose?" He said with a smirk.

"I'm a doctor, it's my job to worry about people, especially people whom I consider my friends. Not to mention my boss." Kaiya said with a smile. "And I'm not the only one worrying about you."

Hijikata smiled slightly in response. "No body should be worrying about and it's apart of my job also, you know."

Kaiya laughed. "Well that depends on who you're talking to but it is how you think. So how _have_ you been?"

"We're in the middle of a war, how do you think I'm doing?" He asked slightly peevishly then sighed. "I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that tone."

"Its alright, everybody is a little on edge. You know you can come to me for anything, right? And that you can trust me with anything." She stated sincerely.

He reached over and patted her knee. "I know, Kaiya-chan, but you have your own burdens to bear."

"I know but still." Kaiya said. They fell into a comfortable silence for a while until Kaiya looked at Hijikata again. "So how are things going between you and Chizuru?" Kaiya saw no point in being subtle about it, especially since Chizuru had been keeping her in the now.

His face turned beet red. "I don't know what you mean?" He said almost angrily.

"No? Then why is your face so red?" She asked with a mischievous smile. Most people would be intimidated by the look that was on his face but Kaiya knew how far she could push him. She knew he would never harm her he was like an older brother to her. She also knew that she was one of the few who could get away with such questions.

He remained silent for several moments then with a sigh. "You won't let this drop will you?"

"Nope, I'll be a thorn in your side the whole trip if you don't answer me. If you do now, this whole trip will be much more pleasant." She said cheerily.

Hijikata sighed. "How did you know?"

"I have a sixth sense about these things." She replied, not wanting to get Chizuru in trouble for her tell Kaiya.

"She said something to you, didn't she?" Hijikata asked as he rolled his eyes at her comment.

Kaiya laughed. "Not really too much, I've mostly hassled her like I'm hassling you and have gotten tidbits here and there. Largely I've put it together myself. I've learned long ago how to read body language; it helps to be able to tell when people are lying or what certain gestures mean."

Hijikata rubbed his head then looked to the sky, then looked forward as he said. "With everything that's going on right now, I don't think its wise to get involved with anybody and yet…" Hijikata looked thoughtfully off into the distant.

"Love shows up in the strangest places. Hajime and I fell in love under similar circumstances. He said he was reluctant to pursue a relationship with me in the beginning also but he says that its actually done him some good." She smiled at him again. "He says having someone to come home to at night helps with stress and just spending time with me is good for him but…he could be just saying that to butter me up."

Hijikata laughed. "Saitou isn't exactly the type to mince words."

"Maybe not when it comes to work and his friends, but when it comes to his wife he's a little more…gentle?" Kaiya made a funny face as the proper word wouldn't come to her. "Anyways, back to you."

Hijikata sighed. "I don't know what you want me to tell you?"

"Well have you two been together? You know like together, together?" She asked.

Hijikata face turned beet red. "I'm not going to tell you that! Damn you for being like Souji!" He yelled.

"Why not? I'm a doctor, you'd be surprised what people tell me!" She tried to very hard to not smirk.

"And you're a woman! I don't want to discuss that with you!" He yelled again.

Kaiya couldn't help but laugh at his discomfort. "I'm not asking for details! Mostly just a yes or no. I mean you've known her for years now."

"Yes okay!" He blurted out, still yelling. "Just once but yes now shut up about it!" Hijikata suddenly spurred his horse and set off into a gallop once more.

When they had finally stopped for the night, Kaiya sat down beside Hijikata. "I really wasn't trying to make you uncomfortable." She said giving him an apologetic look. "We haven't had a lot of time to talk lately so I guess I felt a little snoopy. I'm sorry."

Hijikata sighed. "Don't worry about it. I'm not very good at expressing myself and I get flustered easily, it embarrassing really. So much for the great demon commander, I can't even keep my cool when asked about a girl." He scoffed.

"Oh you're totally bad ass!" Kaiya said with a chuckle.

He laughed, "I certainly don't feel that way." His face became serious again. "I mostly feel like I'm just barely keeping my head above the water, like everything is going to collapse at any moment if I don't pay close enough of attention."

"Well things may very well fall apart but it will have nothing to do with your lack of ability or skill. You are good at your job and you are very dedicated." Kaiya said confidently. "If anybody can succeed in this war, it'll be you and Kondou-san."

Hijikata smiled at her. "Thank you."

Kaiya frowned. "How did you meet Kondou-san anyways? I don't believe I ever heard that story."

"You haven't? Well it isn't a particularly interesting story." He said with a smile.

"I still want to know. You seem so close." Kaiya said sincerely.

"Well we met at his dojo. He was just an instructor at that point and his wife was still alive." Hijikata started.

"Wait he was married? What happened?" She asked, shocked.

Hijikata's face became very sad. "Yes he was. He was very in love with her too…they had a child too, a son. Both his wife, son and his wife's father became very ill. They never discovered what it was that they had become ill with but we're lucky it never reached the dojo. Kondou-san became ill as well but he managed to recover from it."

"Sounds like something contagious. What about Souji?" Kaiya asked.

"He lived in the dojo at the time, he only moved in with Kondou-san after Kondou-san's family passed. That tragedy is how he came to possess the dojo." Hijikata explained.

"That's so sad, I had no idea. He seems so happy most of the time." Kaiya felt so bad for Kondou, Kaiya couldn't imagine losing Hajime let alone a child.

"He's a strong man, truly worthy of the admiration." Hijikata said with a sigh.

"So anyways, you were a student?" Kaiya asked after a moment of silence.

"No, not originally. I was pedalling my family's wares at the time…I was truly awful at that!" Hijikata said with a laugh. "You know I was a bit of a slacker when I was young."

"Really? You? I have a hard time imagining that. I have hard time getting you to eat or sleep let a lone pause to take a breather." She said in dismay.

Hijikata laughed a little harder. "Yes well I suppose I didn't have the drive to do what I was doing; my sister may have spoiled me a little as well. Anyways I did eventually start attending the dojo off and on and that's where I found my passion. Kondou-san and I shared a similar dream that bound us together, the dream of common men becoming samurai."

"What was Souji like when he was little? I've been meaning to ask Kondou-san but I have never gotten around to it." She was truly intrigued.

Hijikata chuckled. "Well he certainly was a handful but he did have a reason though. He was picked on quite a bit when he first arrived, some of the things Kondou-san told me about were quite severe. He literally had to fight for respect. But he practically worshipped the ground Kondou-san walked on, followed him around as much as possible, did almost everything Kondou-san asked of him. Although Kondou-san said he was a little stand offish when he first arrived for understandable reasons."

"Poor Souji." Kaiya said sadly.

"Now that's enough questions for today, you have several days to drill me for more information." Hijikata said with a smile.

Kaiya laughed. "Alright fine, I'll go to sleep and leave you alone."

Three days later, they rode into Edo early in the morning. Hijikata gave her the directions to where Souji and Gen had been taken to recover while he headed in a different direction to meet with an important daimyo and promised to meet up with her there in the evening. Kaiya made her way through the streets of Edo and was shocked at how different it was from Kyoto. While she'd lived not far from it her whole life, she'd never actually visited herself.

It took her an hour to find her way to the mansion where Souji and Gen were situated. It took her several minutes to convince the guard that she was who she said she was but eventually he let her in and had her guided to Gen's room. She was a little confused why they would lead her to Gen, as she was there to see Souji but happy to see him none the less.

The guard waited as she knocked on the door. "Gen-kun, it me Kaiya." She called.

Kaiya heard footsteps then the door slid open to a smiling Gen. "Kaiya-chan! It's so great to see you!" He said happily. "Come in!"

Gen was clutching his abdomen but seemed to be moving okay as he walked into the room. Kaiya shooed the guard away and entered the room. "How have you been? You were still on death's door when I last saw you!" She said as she followed him.

"I would probably be dead if not for you, thank you! I literally owe you my life." Gen said and then bowed.

Kaiya grabbed his shoulders and encouraged him to sit up. "It wasn't all me. You should have been dead even before you reached my hands, your fighting spirit has more to do with your survival then my skill. Even I can't bring a dead man back to life."

Gen laughed then put his hand to his stomach. "Well that's a matter of opinion." He said as he winced. "So why aren't you checking in on Souji? I imagine you're here because all those letters he's been sending Isami-san, saying that he's ready to join the battle."

"Honestly I don't know I was brought here; this is where the guard brought me. I told him I was here to see Souji but he said he'd bring me to see you first." Kaiya said frowning. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see you recovering so well."

Gen slowly got to his feet. "That is weird, I'll show you the way to Souji's room." He said.

"I don't know if that's a good idea in your condition." Kaiya said, instantly worrying as she grabbed his arm to support him.

Gen chuckled and patted the hand on his arm, "Don't worry about it, Kaiya-chan. Getting some fresh air will do me some good." He said as he walked to the door. "It's not far, anyhow."

Gen guided Kaiya down a couple of halls then stopped. "Here it is, I don't know if he's in there though."

"Only one way to find out." Kaiya said as she raised her hand to knock but before Kaiya's knuckles hit the wood, the door slid open to reveal a girl around Kaiya's age with her kimono sliding off on shoulder and holding the ties of her kimono in one hand. They stared at each other for several long moments in shock.

"What is it Masumi-san?" She heard Souji's voice call from within the room. "You really need to go…" Suddenly Souji's head appeared from behind the girl named Masumi. "Oh shit."

Gen coughed awkwardly. "I think I'll go back to my room." Then turned and slowly walked off.

Kaiya stepped to the side and indicated for the girl to continue retreating. The girl pulled up the neck line of her kimono and practically ran from the room. Souji looked like a kid getting caught stealing a treat as he straightened out his yukata which had obviously put on in haste.

Kaiya looked at the girls retreating form. "She does know I'm your cousin right?" Kaiya asked.

When she looked back Souji rubbed his head awkwardly, "You're not mad?" He asked.

Kaiya chuckled. "I don't care whether she's your girlfriend or just your squeeze, as long as it's not negatively effecting your health and it makes you happy, besides I'm not your mother." Kaiya turned and sat down on the edge of the walkway and patted the spot beside her. When he sat down beside her, looked at him.

"So which is she?" Kaiya asked

Souji blushed a little and looked away. "I guess she's my girlfriend, we've been seeing each other for the last month. Pretty much since I got here."

"Why are you so desperate to get to the front line if you've got it good here?" Kaiya said as she started studying him, his posture was straight none of his body language suggested that he was in pain.

"Do you really need to ask me that? It's bad enough that Kondou-san was hurt while I wasn't looking, I couldn't even properly avenge what they did to him. I need to make as many of those bastards pay as possible, I need to do my part." Souji said as anger and frustration blossomed on his face.

Kaiya sighed. "Well that why I'm here, as I'm sure you figured out." Kaiya frowned as a thought crossed her mind. "Did you tell the guards to direct me to Gen-san and alert you?"

Souji chuckled as he stripped down to the waist, knowing full well the procedure. "Maybe." He responded mischievously.

Kaiya smirked and shook her head, then indicated from him to turn his back to her. Finally going fully into doctor mode. "Any pain from the wounds? How's your breathing been?" She asked as she started feeling his sides and back for tightness that generally accompanied his tuberculosis.

"The pain is completely gone from the bullet holes but my chest gets tight every once in a while. I don't think the docs here make the stuff as potent as you do or don't put everything in it that you do, I doesn't seem to help as much as it used to. They also don't give me that tea when I have issues. I think they think you're full of shit." Souji said the last part angrily.

"Don't worry about it, most people underestimate me." Kaiya said with a sigh.

Kaiya untied the pack that she had tied around her waist with the supplies she'd brought with her, largely for Souji, and pulled out the ointment she'd applied to Souji's chest and back religiously over the last couple years. Before she applied it, she asked him to do the breathing exercises that he was used to going through with her, and put her ear to his back and then chest to listen carefully. Once she'd applied the ointment she asked him to get to his feet and watched as he moved around.

"So what do you think?" He asked when she stopped asking him questions and instructing him to do things.

"Well you seem okay but I don't know if you're ready to get yourself in a fight though. Just because you can move your body around without any pain doesn't mean you're ready. Quite frankly I'm more worried about your lungs then your injuries. Being bedridden has set you back a bit." She looked at him worriedly.

Souji grabbed her hands. "Oh come on Kai! Please! I need to get out there again!"

Kaiya sighed. "Hijikata-kun should be here in a few hours, if you can handle sparring with him without having an attack or other difficulties and Hijikata-kun thinks you're up to snuff, then I'll let you return. Is that a deal?"

"I can spar with you!" He said exuberantly.

"I'm no where's near good enough to challenge you enough to actually put you through your paces. Hijikata-kun knows what a healthy you can fight like and he's more than skilled enough to challenge you." Kaiya said firmly.

"Fine!" Souji said with a sigh. "I guess I should get dressed then huh?"

"Oh yes speaking of that," Kaiya unwrapped the clothing that Hijikata had ordered for Souji and she had brought along. "Hijikata-kun has ordered all of you guys to wear western clothing. Both our allies and our enemies have done so and with the battle field being dominated by guns and artillery. The lightness and maneuverability of western clothing is more beneficial…"

"Blah, blah, yada yada. Just say 'put these on'." He said as bent over and picked the pile of clothing up then walked into his room. After several minutes Kaiya heard him yell at her. "What's with all these damn buttons!"

"Blame Hijikata-kun, he's the one who ordered the clothing. Hajime and Sano-kun's have way more buttons then yours, you have it easy." Kaiya yelled back.

Few minutes later he stepped out again and raised his arms. "What do you think?" He asked her.

Kaiya studied him for a moment. "It looks good! How do you feel in that?"

Souji moved around like Shinpachi had. "Feels a little tight but its definitely light, I still have a full range of motion." Souji pulled out his katana from its sheath which he'd set on his hip and stepped down into the yard and started swinging it around. "It'll do." He said.

"The others all cut their hair, to go with the clothes. Are you going to?" Kaiya asked, starting to imagine him with short hair.

"Everybody?" Souji asked shocked.

"Well except Kondou-san, he's sticking to his old style. But yeah Hijikata-kun, Hajime, Sano-kun, Shinpachi-kun and Heisuke-kun. They all cut their hair." Kaiya replied.

Souji thought for a moment. "I guess but can you do it? I'll just make myself look like an idiot."

Kaiya laughed. "Sure I can. I cut Hajime's hair for him but are you sure you don't want to get your girlfriend to do it for you?"

Souji smirked. "I trust you a lot more with sharp objects then I do her. I've only known her for a month after all."

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I hope you had as much fun reading this chapter as I had writing it! R&R

-Shockra


	5. Chapter 5

Yeah I know this is both a long time coming and shorter than it should be for such a long time. That's why I usually have a 3-4 chapter buffer, so that when I have writers block, my poor readers don't have to suffer! Sorry! I hope you enjoy! I don't know why but I had a rough time with this one! Happy reading

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Several hours later, Hijikata arrived to find Kaiya sitting under a tree out of the heat and talking idly with Souji. When Souji saw Hijikata, he quickly got to his feet taking the two bokken with him and rapidly approached him.

"OI, Hijikata-kun!" Kaiya heard Souji yell as she followed after him. "Kai says that if you spar with me, I can return with you guys!"

"You're missing a part in that sentence aren't you?" Kaiya said elbowing Souji in the side. Kaiya looked at Hijikata and explained more fully. "Souji seems alright but he's at a relaxed state. If his body gets put through more stress, something like his breathing problems may still flair up. I'm no where's near enough of a challenge to get his heart rate going, so I thought that since you're better than him and are familiar with how a healthy Souji fights, you'd be the best at testing him."

"Better than me?" Souji complained as he frowned at her.

Hijikata took off his jacket and started buttoning down his vest and shirt. "I'd be happy to help. Sparing with Souji will help work off some of my own stress also." He said as he handed his jacket and vest to Kaiya, then started rolling up his sleeves.

"I want you to go all out on him, Hijikata-kun. It's the best way to test how his body will react to actual battle." Kaiya said with a smirk on her face as she handed him the bokken she'd taken from Souji. "Please refrain from actually breaking each other though, that'd be counter productive.

Hijikata returned her smirk as he took the bokken from her. "Only bruises, I promise. You might want to take notes."

"Yeah its not every day you get to see the _demon_ commander utterly destroyed." Souji said with a huge grin on his face as he started to grip his own bokken properly.

"Cocky as always, I see. How about we go over there?" Hijikata said indicating a more open area where they could move around more freely.

The two of them moved to the area as Kaiya took a seat on a bench under a nearby tree and folded Hijikata's clothing and set them in her lap as Souji and Hijikata took up readying positions. Then, as if something had signaled them, they both leapt forward and their wooden blades made contact with an ear splitting crack. The exchange was very fast but also very brief. Hijikata was obviously in much better shape and stronger because, despite Souji's aggressive action, he was quickly disarmed and on the ground.

Kaiya quirked an eyebrow as Souji hit the ground with a hard thud. "I know I told you to go all out on Souji but I was hoping you'd drag it out a bit more, you know get his breathing up." Kaiya said sarcastically.

Souji glared at Hijikata and got to his feet. "We ain't done, Kai!" Souji replied obvious pissed at being defeated so easily.

Hijikata raised his defense again as Souji picked up his bokken. "Sorry Kaiya-chan, I expected him to put up more of a fight."

Souji sneered as he raised his own defence. After a moment of silence, the two went at it again. This time Hijikata made sure to draw out the battle which only pissed Souji off more, although he seemed to be able to keep his head despite Hijikata toying with him.

While those two started in on around two, the girl whom Kaiya had ran into while she had been fleeing Souji's room, appeared and bowed to Kaiya.

"I apologize for this morning, sensei." She said to Kaiya.

"Masumi-chan, right?" Kaiya asked.

"Chiba Masumi, sensei. Okita-kun has talked about you at length." Masumi said with her head still bowed.

Kaiya patted the spot beside her. "Please sit, it's a rare spectacle to able two witness some of the Shinsengumi's best swordsmen go at it. Even if the one is severely out of shape." Masumi sat down beside Kaiya and watched in rapt intensity. After watching for a few moments in silence Kaiya spoke again. "Don't worry about this morning." Kaiya said and the girl turned to look at Kaiya once more. "A half naked girl running from my cousin's room is one the least scandalous things that Souji has done."

"What did you just say?" Hjikata asked as he suddenly peered at Kaiya's side.

When Kaiya looked up she saw him staring down at Masumi with that intimidating scowl. He barely had any sweat on his forehead, despite the heat and him exerting himself. "Nothing." Kaiya replied, trying her best to not get Souji in trouble.

He glared at Kaiya for moment then looked back at Souji who was still approaching, breathing heavily and sweating profusely. "That's very unlike you Souji. Did you hit your head also, when you got shot up? Or is this just how you behaving when Kondou-san isn't around to make sure you behave?"

"From what I hear, you're one to talk with your late night visitor!" Souji replied scathingly.

Kaiya had started to pass Hijikata, walking towards Souji as Souji spoke but was grabbed firmly by Hijikata. When she looked up at him confused he stared down at her angrily. The next moment Souji was grabbing Hijikata's hand and shoving him away from Kaiya. "I didn't hear it from her!" Souji said angrily. The air between the two had become very intense. "Although your reaction tells me it was true." He continued as he firmly set himself between Kaiya and Hijikata.

Kaiya sighed and elbow Souji to the side. "Stop it! Both of you!" Kaiya said. Now that she could once again see Hijikata, he looked ready to throttle Souji. "Souji's right I didn't nor would I ever discuss your personal business with him let alone anyone else. And Souji you know full well Hijikata-kun would never actually hurt me, he didn't even grab my arm that hard." Which was completely true. When Souji had removed Hijikata's hand from her arm, it had slid off easily and had never hurt. Kaiya turned to Masumi who was trying to make herself invisible.

"Masumi-chan, could you get something cool for these two to drink?" Kaiya asked.

Souji immediately turned to Masumi, giving Kaiya a meaningful nudge as he did so. "You don't have to do that, we're fine."

"No that's fine!" Masumi said practically jumping to her feet, probably feeling uncomfortable. She turned and hurried off.

Kaiya turned back to the guys. "Now back to the reason you two were sparring in the first place. What did you think, Hijikata-kun?"

Hijikata face remained stern but he answered evenly, "His movements are unhindered albeit slow but that may have more to do with being out of shape than his injuries. As for his breathing, I'll leave that up to you."

Kaiya gazed at Souji and he just stared back at her. His breathing was laboured but when she put her ear to his chest, nothing sounded unusual. Kaiya stepped back and looked up at him once more. He was sweating considerably more than Hijikata but his complexion was neither pale nor too pink.

With a sigh she turned back to Hijikata. "I don't really have any medical reasons to say that he shouldn't return but I don't know if he should be thrown into battle right away though. He's too out of shape for that."

Hijikata was silent for moment as he studied Souji, obviously deep in thought. "Fine. He can come back with us; I'll leave it up to Kondou-san to decide what to do with him once he arrives." Hijikata turned and started walking away. "We leave at first light!" He called over his shoulder.

The following morning, Kaiya and Hijikata met Souji by the gate of the estate. The two of them had stayed in an inn because they were not injured and had very little room to spare. Kaiya had offered her assistance but the men who were in charge of the welfare of the injured profusely refused her offer. They also argued that Souji was no where's near ready enough to return to the front lines and even if his injures were healed enough, his tuberculosis was reason enough for him to never see battle again.

True to form, Souji's anger flared up as he spewed insults at the resident doctors. He wasn't just mad on his own behalf but also their belittling comments to Kaiya and being outright rude. Hijikata had been summoned to calm him down as Kaiya wasn't really in the mood to do it herself and also they wouldn't let Souji go without Hijikata's consent. Much to their surprise, though, Hijikata was nearly as livid as Souji. While he never outright called them names and handled the situation as a vice commander should, he made it very clear what he thought of their near sightedness and arrogance.

Once the three of them made it to the edge of Edo, they climbed up into their saddles and took off at a brisk pace. When they slowed to a walk, Souji took the opportunity to catch up with current events. While did get to hear reports of what had been happening, the news was usually days or even weeks old and second hand, so he doubted the accuracy of what he had heard. He seemed just as relieved as Hajime had been, when he was told that Kaiya was no long participating in battles.

Days later, they arrived back at Akashi castle. It was early morning and the sky was clear and beautiful when they arrived. Hijikata immediately went to meet with Kondou, bringing Souji with him and ordering Kaiya to report to the clinic immediately. Kaiya followed her orders and went straight to the clinic.

Even so early in the morning, the place was in a frenzy. Yamazaki knelt beside a man with his back to Kaiya, when she approached them she saw that the man had several gun shot wounds to chest. Kaiya touched his shoulder as he worked busily but he didn't even look up.

"I'm busy." He said tersely.

Kaiya smiled. "You're starting to sound like me!" She said with a chuckle.

He finally looked up at her with a shocked expression that quickly turned into a smile. "Kaiya-chan!" He exclaimed happily. "Sorry I didn't realize it was you!"

Kaiya chuckled again. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure I've growled at you! Do you need any help?"

Yamazaki looked down again and resumed working. "Not with him." Then indicated in the general direction of several other critical patients. "Take your pick with one of them, they're all in approximately the same condition."

Kaiya quickly surveyed the five that Yamazaki had indicated picked the one she thought was the most critical but also the most likely to recover. After a time, Kaiya called over her shoulder. "So what happened here?"

"There was a late night attack. These men were on the wall. It was a desperate attempt to get over the walls and assassinate Kondou-san, that failed miserably." Yamazaki said as he moved on from the patient that he had been working on to another.

Kaiya straightened up and looked around the room. There were several lesser cases, mostly illness' and minor injuries that prevent the patient from doing their duties, then there were six bodies in the far corner mostly hidden behind a screen with white sheets pulled over their heads. Likely the causalities that had survived long enough to make it to the clinic but were beyond help.

Two patients later, Hajime showed up at the clinic. She smiled as he approached and bent her head to the side as he bent over and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"I saw Souji, he seemed quite well." Hajime said as she continued to work.

"Okita-kun is back?" Yamazaki asked as he wiped his hands off and walked over to them.

"Oh yeah sorry Yamazaki-kun, I never did say that. Yeah Souji came back with us but he's not quite ready to be in the thick of it. Hijikata-kun and Souji went to talk to Kondou-san when we got back so I don't know what they decided to do with him." Kaiya said as she continued to work.

"I'm surprised Kondou-san didn't want you involved in that discussion." Hajime said as he rubbed her lower back.

"Well Hijikata-kun sent me here as soon as we arrived. I'm sure Kondou-san will want to have a discussion with me when he has a moment." Kaiya said as she finished with the last stitch and started bandaging.

"I can do that Kaiya-chan. Saitou hasn't been able to see you for quite a while and I'm sure some of the other guys will want to see you too, not to mention you are likely still tired from travelling. Go mingle, eat and get some rest. I can handle this." Yamazaki insisted.

"You have to be exhausted too, Yamazaki-kun. If anybody should be getting rest, it's you." Kaiya replied as she frowned at him.

Yamazaki let out a big huff. "First off, we've known each other for how long? And you still call me _Yamazaki-_ kun while you call pretty much everyone else by their first name!"

"Except Hijikata-kun and Kondou-san!" Kaiya exclaimed.

"They don't count, they're your superiors." Yamazaki said as he continued bandaging from where Kaiya had started.

"True. Susuma-kun then."

Yamazaki smiled. "Thank you. Secondly, I've been flat on my back for the better part of the last three months. You, on the other hand, have been working tirelessly that whole time."

"I don't…" Kaiya started but was pulled to her feet by Hajime.

"Just take his kindness, Kaiya. I'm sure he feels the need to pay you back for saving his life." Hajime said as he started walking towards the door pulling her along behind him.

"But I..." Kaiya started again but once again was interrupted by Hajime once more.

"But you don't do it for any reward or recognition, I know. You just need to learn to accept people's kindness every once in a while." He stopped in the door way. "Now say thank you to Yamazaki."

"But…" She started again but stopped when he gave her a meaningful look. He let go of her arm and she turned back into the room and bowed. "Thank you Sasuma-kun."

When she looked at him, he had a huge grin on his face and looked like he was working hard at suppressing his laughter. He cleared his throat and nodded. "Your welcome, Kaiya-chan."

Kaiya turned and started walking back to Hajime then stopped and looked back at Yamazaki once more. His hand was over his face and shoulders were shaking from silent laughter. "Stop laughing at me!" Kaiya pouted which only made him laugh out loud.

Hajime gently grabbed her elbow. When she looked up at him he had a smile on his face as well. "Anything you say is only going to make him laugh more. Come on."

He guided her to one of the few quiet spots in the castle, under the shade of a tree and together they say under it. She laid her head on his shoulder and for a long time they reclined against each other and said nothing. After a while she broke the silence.

"I hope I'm not taking you from your duties. I don't want to get you into trouble." She said as she ran her hand over his chest.

"I wouldn't have found you and stolen you from the clinic if I didn't have the time spend with you." He replied then kiss the top of her head.

"So how have things been since I left?" She asked.

"Until last night, nothing had changed." Hajime responded tiredly.

When Kaiya looked up at him, he had his head back and his eyes were closed. Kaiya got to her feet and pulled on his hand. "Come on handsome. You look like you're about to fall a sleep. Let's go have a nap!"

He smiled up at her then rolled on to his feet. "That sounds like a good idea."

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Thanks for reading! R&R!

-Shockra


	6. Chapter 6

Two chapters in two days, yay! This one isn't as short as the last, I hope you all enjoy! It seems I maybe laid off again this summer so I may be posting chapters like crazy again! Great for you guys, not so much for me. Oh well such is life.

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A few days later Kaiya entered a room that the guys liked to gather in during their down time and found Souji eating lunch with Chizuru. They both smiled at her when she entered.

"Good afternoon you two!" Kaiya said as she sat down beside Souji.

"Are you hungry, Kaiya-chan?" Chizuru asked.

Kaiya was going to answer no but Souji answered for her. "She probably is, although she's too distracted to realize it. Get her something, Chizuru."

Chizuru quickly jumped to her feet and ran off. Kaiya turned and glared at Souji. "You know I have a voice of my own, right?"

"I know but you would've said no. I know you really well, you know." He said giving her a tight one armed hug.

Kaiya crossed her arms over her chest. "So you say." She said slightly irritated with him.

"I do say." He said with a chuckle. Then after giving her a peck on her cheek, he resumed eating.

For a while they sat there silently. It was eventually interrupted by Sanosuke and Shinpachi slamming the door open, practically charging Kaiya and dropping down in front and beside her. They both had intense looks on their faces and looked like they had just come straight from battle. Sanosuke grabbed her face between both his hands and made sure she looked him square in the eye, causing Souji to utter a warning at them but both men ignored him.

"Kaiya, you were supposed to working on a cure for the furies, right?" Sanosuke asked.

"Y-y…" Kaiya stuttered so shocked but the sudden arrival and Sanosuke getting right up in her face.

"Are you or aren't you?" Sanosuke demanded impatiently.

Kaiya frowned at his tone and Souji growled. "Hey!" As he grabbed Sanosuke's shoulder which he just shrugged off.

"How about you let go of my face before you start interrogating!" Kaiya said a little peevishly when she recovered from her shock.

He finally let go of her face and mumbled a sorry but waved his hand at her impatiently to continue. After briefly giving him the stink eye, she finally answered him.

"Yes I am. Why?" She asked now extremely irritated with Sanosuke and Shinpachi.

"Do you have it figured out yet? The cure?" Shinpachi asked, gently placing a hand on her shoulder; although his face too had an urgent expression on it.

"What are you two morons interrogating her for!" Souji demanded, finally getting to his feet and shoving Sanosuke away from her.

Instead of just flopping over like normal, Sanosuke sprung to his feet and got into Souji's face. "Just give me a reason, Souji! I will knock you flat on your ass!" He growled.

This time Kaiya sprung to her feet and in one smooth motion grabbed Sanosuke wrist and arm, then flipped him on to his back, placed her foot on his chest and twisted his arm to the point just before it popped out of joint. All three men looked at her in shock.

"It is me you are talking too!" She said angrily. "And don't threaten my cousin! Now either you calm down and talk to me rationally or I'll pop your arm out of joint and let someone else put it back into place."

They continued to stare at her in stunned silence for a moment longer, then Souji started laughing which caused the other two to also laugh; although in between breaths Sanosuke repeatedly said. "Ow."

When they stopped laughing Sanosuke said wincing. "Okay, I'm sorry you're right. I let my temper get away from me. This really hurts, so do you mind letting go!"

Kaiya finally let go, just as the door behind her opened. When she took her foot off Sanosuke's chest and turned around, she saw that Chizuru had a stunned look on her face as stared at the scene in front of her in the room. "Am I interrupting?" She asked uncertainly.

"No. Thank you for the food, Chizuru-chan." Kaiya said as she walked to the door and took the tray from her.

"Damn Saitou!" Sanosuke grumbled as he sat up rubbing his arm.

Kaiya took her tray and put it down beside Souji's and started eating. Seeing the food, she had suddenly realized that she was indeed, famished.

Souji sat down beside her once more. "I told you, you were hungry. Have you even eaten anything today?"

Kaiya thought about it for a moment. "I had an apple." She finally replied.

"An apple? That's it?" Souji asked bewildered. "Do you remember this discussion we had about how people won't take you seriously if you don't take care of your own health?"

"Can we get back to what we were discussing?" Sanosuke interrupted, starting to sound impatient again.

"Hmm?" Kaiya said through a mouth full of food. When she swallowed, "Oh yes, right." Kaiya took a sip from the tea Chizuru had put on the tray then cleared her throat.

"Like I said, I am working on one but I haven't found a way to reverse the transformation. Now answer my question, why do you want to know?" She asked them, studying them carefully.

"We just came from a battle with a full unit of furies!" Shinpachi said grimly.

"In broad day light?" Souji asked shocked.

"Yeah, Kodou-san was there too. Apparently he's been able to make furies who can fight in broad daylight." Sanosuke said with a frown. "We hoped that maybe you could find a way to weaponized your cure, so we could take out a whole unit or it would great if we could take out more."

Kaiya sighed. "If he's modified the serum that much, whatever cure I find may not work on those furies. I'd need a sample of either the serum itself, the research or blood from a fury; preferably all of the above and I have no idea how to weaponize it."

"Dammit!" Sanosuke shouted as he punched the floor.

"Y-you saw my father?" Chizuru asked.

When Kaiya looked at her, Chizuru looked very depressed.

"I'm sorry, Chizuru-chan but he seems to be on his own side." Shinpachi said sadly.

"I am _so_ sorry for the trouble he's causing you!" Chizuru said bowing her head. "I hoped Kazama-san was lying but it seems he was correct."

"Wait when did you talk to Kazama?" Shinpachi asked. They all looked at Chizuru in shock.

Chizuru kept her eyes to the ground, "The night of the attack. Kaoru-san used the attack as a chance to try and assassinate Kondou-san and take me away. Kazama-san showed up and saved me from Kaoru-san and told me that my father had betrayed their people and that he was going to kill him when he finds him."

"Wait Kaoru tried to kill Kondou-san!" Souji said angrily. "Why didn't he tell me?!"

"You aren't the only one who didn't know about it." Sanosuke said irritably.

"I feel like he doesn't trust us anymore!" Shinpachi said equally irritated.

Kaiya could see Souji getting mad at them, so she put a hand out on his arm to stop him from speaking. He looked at her and she gave him a pleading look which caused him to look away in frustration. "You two are being too hard on Kondou-san." Kaiya said.

"Are we?" Sanosuke asked angrily. "We didn't really want any of this! We went to Kyoto to protect the people from Ronin, not to be a militia for the bakufu! Out of loyalty I said nothing, then there was the Water of Life! None of us agreed with that but we went a long with it anyways! Now we've been pulled into a war!" He thumped his fist on the ground out of anger.

Souji was about to speak but Kaiya looked at him firmly as she squeezed his arm, so he stopped again although he looked very not pleased. Kaiya turned back to Sanosuke. "Don't fool yourself, Sano-kun. You probably would have been dragged into this war whether or not you were with the Shinsengumi and you wouldn't have been nearly so prepared for it or with such good comrades as you now have. Don't blame this war on Kondou-san, we were trying to stop it!"

Shinpachi sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, but she's probably right. We would've been pulled into this somehow."

"Under Kondou-san you were captains! You had roofs over your, head, food in your belly and money in your pocket to spend as you please. Can you say for certain that you would've been so lucky without him? You most certainly wouldn't have the say you have now." Kaiya said firmly.

"We don't _have_ any say!" Sanosuke said in frustration.

"Yes you do!" Kaiya said emphatically. "You may not be able to direct the battles but Kondou-san still wants your input and ultimately it's not entirely up to him either. If you weren't his captains, you'd have even less say then you do now. I'm sorry but you two just sound like a couple of whiny nobles."

"You shame us, Kaiya-chan." Shinpachi said. "You see things so much more clearly than we do." Shinpachi scootched closer and planted a kiss on her temple. "Sorry we ganged up on you like that, that was _really_ mean."

Kaiya smirked at him. "That's okay. If I actually felt threated by you I would have broken your nose. You two are just full of hot air when it comes to women, I know you'd never hurt me."

"You've gotten even braver since you first came here," Shinpachi said as he got to his feet. "probably because of all that stuff Saitou taught you. See you later, I'm gonna go talk to Kondou-san or at least Hijikata-san, about what we saw today. You coming Sano?"

"I'll be right there." Sanosuke said with a nod. When Shinpachi left he looked at Kaiya again. "Are you sure you're not close?" He asked.

"I didn't say I wasn't close; I am in fact very close I'm just missing…something." Kaiya shook her head in frustration. "If I had more time during the day, I'd be less tired and then my brain could probably figure it out a little better. I made more progress in Osaka than I did over the last year." Kaiya said with a sigh.

"Why don't you ask Kondou-san for like a week to focus on your research?" Souji asked.

"People need help with their injuries!" Kaiya replied.

"What Yamazaki-san has no worth to you?" Souji asked.

Kaiya scowled at him. "Of course he does but he has other duties as well!"

Sanosuke rolled his eyes. "There are other doctors here you know. And Kondou-san will be very inclined to let you work solely on that research after he hears what Shinpachi and I have to say. Especially since both of his Vice Commanders are now furies and Sannan-san has been one for quite sometime and is likely running out of time." He got up and walked towards the door. "I'll recommend that he does that. I'd feel better if we could fix our biggest mistake; making that crap."

Sanosuke opened the door and slammed it behind him as he left. Kaiya looked over at Chizuru who continued to look at the ground with a glum expression. So Kaiya got up and sat down once more beside Chizuru, then wrapped her arm around Chizuru's shoulders.

"None of this is your fault!" Kaiya said emphatically.

Souji suddenly got to his feet. "While you two have a bonding moment, I'm going to go do something." He turned and walked outside.

"He's _my_ father and he's doing this partly for _me_." Chizuru said as tears entered the corner of her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Kaiya asked confused.

"Kaoru-san said that him and my father were using the furies to build an army to rebuild the Yukimura clan. Kaoru-san was coming to get me and bring me back to my father but he was going to kill Kondou-san first. Kazama-san interfered after Kaoru-san had knocked down Kondou-san and I stepped in the way. Kazama-san killed Kaoru-san then told me about what my father was doing and that he was going to kill him and when he was done with that, he'd come and take me." Chizuru said sadly.

"He's one persistent bastard, isn't he! Did you tell him about you and Hijikata-kun?" Kaiya asked.

"No, I didn't think it'd be wise. Hijikata-kun has enough on his plate, he doesn't need Kazama-san to come after him as well." Chizuru replied.

"Does Hijikata-kun know about the attack from Kaoru?" Kaiya asked.

"Yes, I believe so. I haven't told him directly; I've barely seen him at all since he's returned. He's almost never in his room." Chizuru said.

The door suddenly opened and in walked Hajime. "Here you are." He said as he walked over to Kaiya cupping his hand.

He sat down beside her and held out his hand, it was bleeding rather profusely. Kaiya looked at him up and down. He too had obviously just returned from battle. His clothes were dirty and slightly out of sorts as was his hair. Dirt was smudged on his face as well as a smattering of blood but as she stared a moment longer, she realized that it was not his.

"Our room is closer then the clinic, I have supplies there. You also need to clean up, you're a mess." Kaiya said as she pulled a length of cloth from her sleeve and wrapped it around his hand.

"I'll get a wash bin and some water." Chizuru said as she got up and then left.

As Kaiya and Hajime both got their feet, he looked at the door Chizuru had exited. "Is she alright? She seemed upset." Then he frowned and looked at Kaiya. "Did I interrupt something?"

Kaiya smiled at him sadly and took his good hand. "It's okay, I think she was ready for me to leave her alone anyways."

"Why is she upset?" He asked as they too exited the room.

"Sano-kun and Shinpachi-kun accidently ran into Kodou-san today, on the battlefield. Apparently he's betrayed the Bakufu and his own people. Apparently he's doing it for her and her clan," Kaiya looked around to see if there was anyone around then whispered, "not mention the more sensitive information."

Hajime frowned at her as they walked to their room. "What do you mean?" He asked quietly.

"Not right now. Kondou-san or Hijikata-kun may fill you in on it later on anyways. Right now let's focus on cleaning you and your hand up." She said as she slid the door to their room open.

Kaiya headed straight to her desk where she always kept her supplies, while Hajime unbuttoned this jacket and vest and set them down beside him as he sat down. When she settled down in front of him, he held out his hand once more. She took it and unwrapped it just as a knock came from their interior door.

"Come in, Chizuru-chan!" Kaiya called.

The door slid open and in came Chizuru with a bucket of water in one hand and a big empty wash bin propped against her opposing hip. She set the wash bin down beside Kaiya and poured the water into it. "I'll get more water." She said as she exited through the exterior door.

Just as Chizuru left Kaiya called. "Leave it open, that breeze it nice." Chizuru nodded and continued on her task.

Kaiya turned back to Hajime and handed him one of the two wash clothes she'd brought with her. "Clean yourself up while I fix your hand." She said to him.

He smirked at her as he took the cloth and dunked it into the water and squeezed it out, one handed, and started cleaning his face off. While he did that Kaiya quickly cleaned off his hand and inspected the wound. It was pretty superficial but it had also bled quite a bit. As she looked at it, she determined that it didn't even need stitches. By the time Kaiya had cleaned, disinfected and wrapped the wound, Chizuru had filled the wash bin.

"Thank you, Chizuru-chan." Kaiya said as Chizuru turned to leave for the last time.

Chizuru tried to smile and nodded her head and then left, this time closing the exterior door behind her. Kaiya dumped Hajime's jacket and vest into the water to soak and indicated for him to give her his shirt too. It didn't have any blood on it but it did look like one big sweat stain and she had been smelling him from the moment he'd first sat down beside her.

As she scrubbed his clothing, he scrubbed his own body down, washing the days sweat and grime away. When Kaiya looked up from the washing bin, she frowned. His back had become one big bruise, the skin turning several shades of purple, green and brown.

Kaiya shook the water off of her hands, dried them off and moved in behind him and placed her hands on his back. "What happened?" She asked in concern.

Hajime tried to look at his back for a moment then shrugged his shoulders. "I got caught in the shockwave of an explosion, the force made me hit my back on a tree, it is nothing serious."

He winced as Kaiya started probing his back, feeling for breaks or other injuries. He rolled his eyes as she started doing a more thorough exam, listening to his chest and probing his upper torso; which made her pinch him on the thigh and scowl at him.

"You could have internal bleeding and not know it!" She growled at him. "Do I care too much for you?"

He smiled and stroked her cheek. "You care just enough." Then kissed her.

Several hours later, as the sun began set, Kaiya and all the captains were summoned to Kondou's personal quarters. They all crammed into the small room practically sitting on top of each other. When they had all settled in, Kondou looked at them solemnly.

"Nagakura-kun and Harada-kun have delivered some very disturbing information this afternoon." Kondou started. "It would seem that Kodou-san has finally resurfaced."

"And he has been busy too." Hijikata continued. "While in hiding, he's been continuing his work on the Water of Life for his own gain."

"We kind of guessed that a while ago." Heisuke said.

"Yes we speculated that but what we didn't guess was the progress he would make. It would seem, Kodou's furies can fight in daylight." Hijikata said solemnly. Only Heisuke seemed surprised by the news, obviously the last to know.

Kondou turned to Kaiya. "Harada-kun said he asked you if you were close to a cure and you told him that you were close. Is that true?"

A couple of them looked at her in shock. "Yes but I have been close for some time." She replied.

"Then I am granting Harada-kun's request that you be granted to work full time on your research. Yamazaki-kun will be placed full time in the clinic and Yukimura-kun can assist as she can." Kondou said firmly.

"Thank you but did Sano-kun also mention to you that even if I do find a way to reverse our version of the Water of Life, that I'm not sure if it'll work on Kodou's new monstrosities?" Kaiya asked.

"Yes he did, which brings me to the reason why I summoned the rest of you. We need to get as much information for Kaiya-chan as possible so that if she can find a cure, she can modify it to work against the others." Kondou said looking at each of them in turn.

"We've been looking for Kodou-san for years, how do you expect us to find him now?" Shinpachi asked.

"Not to mention that we are still fighting a war!" Sanosuke put in.

This time Sannan addressed the group. "The Fury Corps sole mission will now be to hunt down Kodou-san and any information we can find. This cure means more to us than any of you." He said somewhat bitterly. "Your duties will remain the same."

Kaiya looked at him sadly. "I'll do whatever I can to make sure you don't die from that stuff, Sannan-san!"

Sannan's face softened. "I know you will." He said gently.

"With those things being able to fight in the daylight, in all likelihood, you encounter Kodou's furies during battle. If you do, collect blood samples for Kaiya-chan, if you can. That's one of the things you need, right?" Hijikata asked Kaiya.

"Yes, blood samples will help. You'll also need to get them to me as quickly as possible. What I need the most is the recipe, it will be of the most use but any information you can get me will do." Kaiya answered.

"When you do find the cure, and I have faith in you that you will, I'll gladly find a way to weaponize it for you." Sannan said firmly.

* * *

I hoped you like this latest Chapter!

-Shockra


	7. Chapter 7

Hey all! Thank you to all of you who are sticking with me, I know I haven't been posting all that regularly. I'll try to post more frequently as it is the summer. Anyways I hope you all enjoy the latest chapter.

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For the next two weeks Kaiya hardly ever left her room. Sannan had requisitioned her a lot of equipment to aid her research. Unfortunately, though, they'd seen little of Kodou's monsters nor could they seem to be able to track Kodou himself down but had found an unlikely ally in Shiranui Kyo. Like Kazama, Shiranui was an oni but seemed to have his own agenda. Kaiya had learned, later on, that Sanosuke had actually been aided by Shiranui. Now that Shiranui knew that they were trying to find a cure, he was aiding the Fury Corp. in finding Kodou and was one of the few to have been able to bring her blood samples. He also promised her that he would search his own community for information on the Water of Life that the Shinsengumi had never heard.

Late one night Kaiya hunched over her test samples of blood from the Fury Corps. She'd just added a new batch of antiserum to the blood samples that morning. Like the last few tests, they'd shown reversal of the mutation that occur to the blood cells but after a few hours the previous batch would revert back to their former form. Today's batch though, had yet to revert back and Kaiya found her self hoping that she may have finally found it, the cure.

A light knock rapped on Kaiya's door. Hajime had once again been sent to deal with an outbreak of fighting a few days north of their current position, so she was alone in the room. Kaiya straightened up and tried to stretch her back as she invited her visitor to come in. When the door opened, Sannan appeared in her door way.

Kaiya smiled at him as he walked into the room, closing the door behind him. "Good evening Sannan-san."

"Good evening, Kaiya-chan. How are things going today?" He asked as he sat down beside her. Every few days he'd come and check on her but not just to see her progress on her research. She'd suspected that either Hajime, Hijikata or Kondou had asked him to keep an eye her; to make sure she was eating properly and getting at least a little bit of sleep. Sometimes he came bearing food and sometimes he shut her down and made her go to sleep.

"Well actually…" She started but then stopped and chewed on her lip, not certain if she should say what she wanted. She didn't want to give him any false hope.

Sannan tilted his head slightly to the side and studied her a moment. "What is it?" He asked.

"Well…this week…it's been a good week." Kaiya said uncertainly.

"Oh really? Are you sure?" Sannan asked smirking slightly.

Kaiya chuckled. "Yes, it's just I don't want to give anyone false hope." Kaiya stopped but Sannan indicated for her to continue. "Well for the first time I've seen signs that the antiserum is starting to work but ultimately after a few hours the blood returns to its mutated stated…until today."

Sannan cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Kaiya shuffled to the side and indicated for him to sit in front of the microscope. As he moved forward, Kaiya pulled the smear that she'd been studying and put in a different one in. Then Sannan put his eye to the eye piece and looked at what she'd put in.

"This is what a normal blood smear looks like, note the shape of the blood cell and how many are on the smear." After giving him a moment to study the smear, she pulled it out and put another one in. "This is what a typical furies blood looks. They shape of the blood cells are different as well and a vastly larger number of them."

"What's the grey matter in between the blood cells? I didn't notice it in the last smear." Sannan asked.

"I'm not entirely certain. In fresher samples they'll attach themselves to the blood cells, maybe they're the reason your hair turns to white and you eye changes colour but that's only speculation." Kaiya pulled they smear out again and put the slide in that she'd just been looking at when Sannan had arrived.

"This is a sample from this morning. I'd injected it with the newest version of antiserum this morning. As you may notice, it looks almost exactly like the first smear. The other samples with the same antiserum are showing the same results." Kaiya said trying to keep the hope from her voice.

"So it worked?" Sannan looked over at her surprised.

"Don't get too excited." She said quickly. "I've had some level of this sort of success all week but the others samples turn back after a couple of hours, this sample has stayed the same for twenty-six hours. Then there's the fact that I don't know how this will effect the rest of the body."

"Make up a concoction up for me and I'll be the first to try and you'll have an answer." Sannan said confidently.

Kaiya looked at him mortified. "I don't think so! I don't want to be responsible for your death!"

Sannan looked at her solemnly. "I face death every day, Kaiya-chan and I'm at peace with that. I live each day not knowing if today will be the day I turn to dust or if I'll suddenly lose my mind. If taking this serum helps you understand its effect, then I'll gladly die for you."

Kaiya frowned and put a hand to her forehead. "Fine, if Kondou-san approves it than I'll make the serum. We are not going to repeat the last time something like this happened." She said firmly. "And besides I don't have enough ingredients right now to make enough for a person and it'll give me time to continue to watch this sample."

"Even if it's a temporary measure, maybe it can be taken on a daily basis. If it doesn't work permanently I mean." Sannan suggested after a moment, changing the subject.

"It will certainly be a trial and error process. It could be something that you'd have to stay on for the rest of your life or maybe say five doses or ideally, just one." Kaiya said as she started thinking about the ingredients that made up the antiserum and how they interacted with the human body and how it might affect a fury.

"Alright Kaiya-chan, you should get some rest so you can be coherent enough to speak with Kondou-san in the morning." Sannan said as he got to his feet. "If this light isn't out in half an hour, I'll send your cousin."

Kaiya made a pouty face. "That's mean!"

Sannan smirked as he walked to the door. "Then you'd better listen. If only it was that easy to get my men to do things they don't want to do. Good night Kaiya-chan." Then he left.

The following morning, Kaiya did as she was told and went to see Kondou. Unfortunate for her, he was in a meeting so she decided to try and hunt down one of her captains and head into town to get the ingredients she needed. The only one she could find was Heisuke, sitting under a tree eating. When he saw her coming he smiled at her brightly and waved her over.

Kaiya sat down beside him under the shade of the tree and leaned tiredly against the trunk. Heisuke held up an apple before her face.

"You looked more tired now then when you were working in the clinic!" Heisuke said with a chuckle as she took the apple.

"I'm pretty much working day and night. I probably had about three hours of sleep this morning." She replied then took a bite out of the apple.

"Hajime-kun needs to get back so he can make sure you're properly looked after!" Heisuke said with a smile.

Kaiya glared at him for a moment then with a sigh said. "Anyways! Are you busy for the next couple hours? I need to go into town to buy a few supplies so I can continue my research, I don't think anybody would appreciate me going in by myself so I was hoping that you would have time to tag along!"

"Sure Kaiya-chan! You and I haven't had a lot of time to hang out lately, with the war happening and all." Heisuke got to his feet then offered her his hand and helped her to her own feet.

They parted ways, temporarily, to get their swords then met again at the castles gate. As they walked to town Heisuke complained to Kaiya about having to share sleeping quarters with Shinpachi, Sanosuke and Souji. The castle was practically bursting at the seams now that it was no longer housing just the Shinsengumi and its original occupants. The only reason Kaiya hadn't had to bunk with anyone other than her husband was because she was married and she was a doctor, Kondou had insisted she needed her own quarters. Most of the other leaders wanted her to stay with castles servants, married or not.

Kaiya couldn't help but laugh at Heisuke's stories of tormenting each other. It was small and petty things usually, like putting someone's hand in a bowl of cold water or just plan old dumping a bucket of water on each other while they were sleeping. Apparently someone had put ink onto Heisuke's hand, while he slept and tickled his nose and caused him to smear ink all over his face. He said it took in close to an hour to scrub it off, when he woke up hours later. By the time they'd reached the town's market, Kaiya's sides had begun to hurt from laughing so much. It was a nice change to laugh, everyone and everything was so serious lately.

When they finally returned to the castle Kaiya gave Heisuke a hug, when she pulled away he looked very surprised which caused Kaiya to laugh once more.

"What was that for?" He asked confused.

"A thank you for your company. Its been a long time since I've laughed so hard or so much, it was a nice change from all this seriousness." Kaiya said with a smile.

Heisuke rubbed his head and blushed, embarrassed. "Uh your welcome, I guess. I'm glad to make others laugh, it was mostly at my own expense which is usually the best kind of humour. I guess Hajime-kun isn't much of a comedian, is he?" He said with a chuckle.

"He makes more jokes than you'd think. He can be funny when he wants to be. He's quite different when its just him and I." Kaiya said with a mischievous grin.

"Oh really? What's he like?" Heisuke asked.

"Now I couldn't tell you that, he'd get mad!" Kaiya said as she gave him a light shove.

"Oh I won't tell! I'm not like those other three! I can keep any kind of secret, not matter how funny or amusing." Heisuke said as he tried to give her puppy eyes.

"No! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work." Heisuke chuckled at her as she turned and walked off.

After making a quick stop to her room to drop off her supplies and check on her smears, Kaiya headed off to Kondou's quarters once more to see if he was available. As she walked down the hall that led to the room, the door opened and out came Kondou and Hijikata. They both had their swords on their hips and were walking with a brisk purpose. They were so focused on their destination that they hadn't noticed her when they turned and walked in the opposite direction. Kaiya jogged to catch up to them.

"Kondou-san! Hijikata-kun!" Kaiya called as she went.

They both stopped and looked back at her surprised. "Kaiya-chan! I'm sorry, we didn't see you there!" Kondou said apologetically.

"We're in a hurry, Kaiya-chan. So either you'll have to walk and talk or it'll have to wait till later." Hijikata said in his typical peevish tone.

Hijikata turned and started walking away but Kondou waited for her to catch up and walked beside her. "It can't wait but I don't know if you really want me talking about this out here. Its about Sannan-san and my research." Kaiya said which caused them to both stop and look at her. They then looked at each other, then with a nod they turned around and headed back to Kondou's room, Kondou guiding Kaiya with a hand gently on her back.

Once inside Kondou indicated for her to take a seat by the table that sat in the middle of what was supposed to be his living area. Kondou and Hijikata both took a seat on each side of the table and set their swords down beside them.

Hijikata immediately indicated her to continue impatiently. "Make it quick!" He said.

"I have made a break through; I _may_ have found the cure or at least a temporary treatment." Kaiya said trying to be brief.

Kondou frowned. "What do you mean you _may_ have?"

"Well the blood samples I've been testing my serums on usually don't really react except over the last week, I've been having temporary success. The blood would turn back to a normal state like Kondou-san and I have but would revert back to fury blood after a couple of hours. Yesterday, I had considerably more success. In the morning I had treated several blood samples with a new concoction. They transformed almost immediately which in itself is a first, by the time Sannan-san came to check on me late last night, they still hadn't reverted. When I checked this morning and just before I came to talk to you, the transformation was still holding."

They both looked at her shocked, then Kondou smiled at her broadly. "Good job Kaiya-chan!" He said emphatically.

Kaiya held a finger up. "Don't congratulate me yet. It seems to be working on my blood samples but that doesn't tell me how it would affect the rest of the body, it could still kill a person but Sannan-san seems to be willing to take the risk." Kaiya looked down sadly. "He almost seems like he's getting desperate, which makes me worry that he might be reaching his end." Kaiya looked up again at their somber expressions. "He wanted me to give it to him last night but I told him I wouldn't with out your expressed consent, Kondou-san and I didn't have enough ingredient last night either."

Kondou nodded his head. "You have my consent. I would like to be present if possible, if things go wrong like if he goes crazy like the furies do; it'd make me feel better to have someone else there to make sure you are protected."

"As would I, we can't afford to have anything happen to you." Hijikata said. "And it'd be wise to not speak of this to anyone else until we know more."

Kondou nodded his head. "I agree. Now we really need to get going. Is there anything else, Kaiya-chan?"

Kaiya shook her head. "No."

Late that evening, Kaiya, Sannan, Kondou and Hijikata all sat in Kondou's quarters once more. Kaiya had brought the antiserum, microscope and her research journal to record all of the things she observed, while Kondou and Hijikata both brought their daisho in case of emergency. Kaiya saw Sannan's eyes fall onto the weapons but otherwise didn't seem to register.

"Alright, Kaiya-chan." Hijikata started. "How are we going to do this?"

"Well basically I'll give the antiserum vial to Sannan-san and then he drinks it. After that I don't really know. I have a few guesses but I can't really say what's going to happen to him for sure." Kaiya replied.

"Then tell us your guesses." Hijikata encouraged.

Kaiya looked at Sannan and he nodded his head indicating that he wanted to know as well. "Judging from what I've read and what few things I've seen about the transformation from human to fury, there will likely be a lot of pain associated with the transformations reversal. The transformation could be a quick flash in the pan and just turn back or it could just kill him. Ideally there will be no pain and the fury will just fade out of him and be gone forever, that's the best case scenario of course."

"Kaiya-chan and I have also discussed the possibility that even if the transformation is not permanent, we may be able to use the serum as a treatment. Whether it'd have to be long term or short term is yet to be seen." Sannan put in.

"Well let's see if it'll work at all, first, shall we?" Kaiya said.

The three men nodded in unison and Kaiya then handed over the antiserum to Sannan. Sannan took the antiserum in hand and looked at the vial pensively. Then after staring at it for a few moments, he finally popped off the cork, lifted it in salute then tipped it back into his mouth. With a face of disgust Sannan swallowed the antiserum. For a moment, it looked like nothing was going to happen but then Sannan keeled over grabbing his throat.

As Sannan coughed and convulsed and withered on the ground in pain, his hair faded to white. Kaiya started to get up to see if she could help him but Hijikata indicated for her to stay where she was and got up himself and put a hand on Sannan's shoulder but he shrugged it off.

"I'm fine." He croaked. Suddenly the white hair faded back to black and his whole body when lax.

Sannan put a hand to his face as he rolled on to his back, then slowly with assistance from Hijikata he sat back up. Both Kaiya and Kondou watched him worriedly but waited for him to recollect himself. Kaiya eventually handed him a cup of water and he accepted it eagerly and downed it quickly.

"Well, how do you feel?" Kaiya finally asked not able to keep the question to herself any more.

He looked at her for a moment while he thought about her question. "I definitely feel…different…hungry which I wasn't feeling before."

"That's good!" Kaiya said excitedly. "That's one of the common side effect of being a fury, a considerably reduced appetite for food…normal food anyways."

"More importantly, do you feel the thirst? The blood lust?" Hijikata asked solemnly.

Sannan thought about it for moment longer. "No, not at all!" He said almost excitedly, Kaiya had never heard Sannan even remotely excited about anything.

Kaiya got up and sat directly in front of Sannan. She looked directly into his eyes then took his pulse, she then pulled a needle and syringe from her pocket and pushed back Sannan's sleeve and pulled some blood from his arm. As she went over to her microscope, Hijikata called for Chizuru, whom he had asked to wait on standby and asked her to bring Sannan food and water. When she left again, Kaiya slid her newly made smear under the lens and studied it.

After a few minutes, Kaiya felt someone sit down beside her. When she looked up she saw Sannan sitting there. "May I see?" He asked.

"Of course." She said as she moved to the side.

"So? Does his blood look normal?" Kondou asked.

"Yes, it does. In fact, it looks better than any of my test samples!" Kaiya responded happily.

Both Hijikata and Kondou let out a sigh of relief. "So it does work!" Kondou said hopefully.

"For now yes. It is yet to be seen if it is a permanent or temporary measure. If it holds true to my tests; he'll have at least two days." Kaiya responded.

"Should we keep a close eye on him?" Hijikata asked.

Kaiya thought about the question as Sannan straightened up and looked at her as well. "No I don't think so. I'll check on him in the morning, if he's going to revert back it'll be sooner rather than later and he's showing no signs that his body is rejecting the antiserum."

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Well what you think? Let me know what you think! R&R

-Shockra


	8. Chapter 8

Well here you are! Just a warning, things get a little...steamy near the end. But it doesn't get to detailed. Anyways enjoy! ;)

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The following morning Kaiya walked to Sannan's room accompanied by Hijikata and Yamazaki. Hijikata thought it wise to have Yamazaki present as well to witness the transformation and ultimately, if her cure held out, to help Kaiya create more antiserum.

What remained of the fury corps was very minimal; although Kaiya hadn't heard the number. Hijikata wanted Sannan and Yamazaki to actually deal the with men of the fury corps, they tend to be unreliable and some may not want her cure. Kaiya suspected that those who didn't want the cure, would likely be killed. The Bakufu wanted nothing to do with the Water of Life anymore, fearing if it were discovered that they were involved, they'd loose their supporters and the war; so the Shinsengumi were entirely on their own with its consequences.

Kaiya raised her hand and knocked on the door of Sannan's room. After some shuffling and a moment of silence Sannan called them in.

"Good morning, Sannan-san." Kaiya said cheerfully as she entered. "How are you feeling this morning."

Sannan looked at his hand as if there was something fascinating about it. "Normal." He responded in awe. "Human. I almost thought that I might have dreamed it all." He finally looked Kaiya in the eye. "Thank you Kaiya-chan, even if it does turn out to be temporary. Its nice to feel like myself again."

"You really don't need to thank me but…you're welcome." Kaiya replied embarrassed.

While she checked Sannan over, Hijikata and Sannan discussed business. Kaiya wasn't entirely sure why Hijikata had wanted Yamazaki there, there wasn't a lot to observe or do so she had him record her findings in her research journal. When she was done she excused herself and was followed out by Yamazaki.

Together they returned to her room and the two of them went over her research. After a lengthy discussion, Yamazaki shook his head in disbelief.

"I have to admit, Kaiya-chan. I didn't think anyone, even you, could reverse the transformation but I'm happy that I was wrong." Yamazaki admitted with a chuckle.

"You aren't the only one who doubted me, even I doubted myself at times. I've been working on this for over almost two years, I'm not the most patient woman you know." Kaiya said with a smirk.

"Except when you're doctoring people. You seem to have infinite amount of patience when you're sewing someone's in sides together." Yamazaki said smiling.

Kaiya shrugged. "I'm to focused to notice anything other than what I'm doing, when I'm elbow deep in someone's innards."

Suddenly there came a knock at her door. Kaiya frowned, she wasn't expecting anyone. She was supposed to have another discussion with Kondou, Hijikata and Sannan tonight. Otherwise, her day was wide open.

"Come in." She called and in walked Heisuke.

"Good morning Kaiya-chan!" Heisuke called happily, then noticed Yamazaki and smiled at him too. "Morning, Yamazaki-san! Are you working so early in the morning?"

Kaiya smiled back at him. "Sasumu-kun was curious with how my research was going." She replied.

"Well the guys and I are having breakfast together! You should come! It's been forever since we've all eaten together." Heisuke said then turned to Yamazaki. "You can come too!"

Yamazaki got to his feet. "That's kind of you Todou-san but I have duties I should be getting too. I will talk to you later, Kaiya-chan." He said then turned and left the room through the exterior door.

Kaiya looked up at Heisuke. "Just give me a second to clean up my stuff. I can't exactly leave my research just lying around."

Heisuke waited patiently as she put her stuff away, then the two of them headed off to where the others had gathered. Kaiya was shocked to find that even Kondou and Sannan sat there eating, so was Heisuke when she looked over at him.

"Man this really is like old times!" Heisuke said happily as Kaiya went and sat beside her cousin. "We're just missing Hajime-kun and Hijikata-san!"

"It certainly is a good day!" Kondou said with a laugh.

"I haven't seen you this cheery in at least a year, Kondou-san!" Souji said with a slight smile. "Not that I'm complaining, it's nice to see you so happy but why _are_ you so happy?"

Kondou opened his mouth to respond but it was Sannan whom replied. "Why does he need a reason, Okita-kun. As you well know, it's Kondou-san's natural disposition to be happy." He said coolly.

"The fact that you're sitting here to is also suspicious." said Sanosuke to Sannan. "We barely see you anymore, especially during the day.

"Oh come on Sano-kun! Can't we just enjoy each others company without bickering or being suspicious of each other!" Kaiya said as a tray was put down in front of her.

"Like Sannan-san said, it's Kondou-san's natural disposition to be happy but I also agree with Sano, it _is_ odd you are here Sannan-san. Isn't the day light supposed to make you feel ill or something?" Shinpachi asked.

"How do you know how I feel, Nagakura-kun? Are you a mind reader?" Sannan asked in his typical cool tone. "Maybe I do feel unwell."

Kondou let out a great sigh. "That's enough Sannan-kun. Kaiya-chan you know perfectly well what makes me so happy and what makes Sannan-kun capable of sitting amongst us in the middle of the day and you can probably say it better then I, so why don't you tell these gentlemen?"

Sanosuke, Shinpachi, Heisuke and Souji all turned to look at her. "Well…" Kaiya started but then paused.

Souji pinched her arm. "Don't keep us waiting!" Sounding almost genuinely annoyed. Kaiya scowled at him and rubbed her arm.

"Souji! Don't be so mean to her!" Kondou scolded. "Give her a moment to collect herself."

She glared at him a moment longer while she continued to rub her arm then turned to the others. "You all know about the research that I've been doing over the last while, right?" She asked.

The others nodded but Sanosuke immediately sprung to his feet. "You did it! Didn't you!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"Oi, sit down Sano!" Shinpachi said as he pulled him back to the ground. "Let the woman speak!"

"Is that true, Kaiya-chan! Did you find the cure?" Heisuke asked hopefully.

Kaiya smiled slightly. "That has yet to be seen."

"Oh come on Kai, don't give such cryptic answers!" Souji growled.

Kaiya shoved him. "Well if you all shut up for a moment like Shinpachi-kun said. I probably would've been well on my way explaining if I hadn't been repeatedly interrupted."

"Sorry, Kaiya-chan. We won't interrupt you anymore." Sanosuke replied apologized.

Kaiya smiled and nodded "I made a discovery a couple of days ago." She started. "Typically I test my antiserums on blood samples and over the last few years I've had no or little success. On that day I had treated the blood with my new version of antiserum and the blood reverted back and by the evening the blood continued to be normal. Sannan-san had asked to be the first human trial and after Kondou-san's approval we went ahead with the trial the following night, last night."

"So it worked?!" Shinpachi asked. "I mean obviously it didn't kill him and he's sitting here during the day which is a first in a long time."

Kaiya smiled. "Yes it worked…" Kaiya held up her hand as they all started congratulating her. "but there is still a chance that he could turn back."

"Don't be so pessimistic, Kaiya-chan! Even if I do turn back into a fury, then we could just use the antiserum as a treatment until you find a more permanent solution."

"That's right, Kai! You've made a huge leap and you should be proud!" Souji said emphatically as he gently shook her one shoulder.

"Yeah, Kaiya-chan! You did awesome!" Shinpachi said with a huge grin.

Sanosuke laughed. "When I can, I'm totally taking you out and getting you drunk!"

"Oh! I'm totally in for that!" Heisuke said with a chuckle.

"I don't think my husband would appreciate that, he might lose his calm come after you and dismember you." Kaiya said smiling.

Suddenly the door slid open and in stepped a well travelled and very dirty Hajime. "Who am I dismembering and why?" Hajime asked with the slightest of smirks. Kaiya jumped up nearly knocking over her tray and rushed over to give Hajime a hug.

"It would seem that your wife is a genius." Kondou said with a huge grin.

"I knew that a long time ago but what has she accomplished now?" Hajime asked as the two of them sat down once more.

An hour later they had all went their separate ways, except Hajime and Kaiya. Since Sannan's transformation back to human, Kaiya wanted him to stay in the castle so that she could keep an eye on him for the next day or so; so Kondou assigned Hajime to the night shift to watch over and keep the furies in line until she cleared Sannan.

Hajime said to Kaiya that he wasn't all that tired so after he cleaned up from his journey north, the two of them spent the day together. This made Kaiya incredibly happy, she couldn't remember the last time they'd spent quality time together. Really, since they had started their relationship, they seem to not be able to spend more than a couple hours together besides sleeping together at night. Hajime took her to town to the gardens where the flowers and Sakura trees were in full bloom.

Kaiya looked up at Hajime and smiled happily as the wandered aimlessly through the garden. "You know its kind of sad but this the first real date we've really had." She said with chuckle.

"I wouldn't say this is our first date. What about when I took you out to eat the day before your birthday a few years ago?" He asked with a gentle smile on his face. "I even bought you a present."

"I suppose that could qualify, you did get laid afterwards." She smiled at him mischievously.

Hajime feigned an exasperated sigh. "You make sound me sound so immoral! It was never my intention to get you in bed, just a wonderful side effect. If you'll recall, _you_ had to convince _me_!"

Kaiya laughed as she hugged his arm. "That's true! You have always been terribly good to me, I don't deserve such a wonderful and loving husband."

Hajime frowned. "You literally save peoples lives and come from a line of nobility, you deserve _better_ than me."

Kaiya pulled him to a stop and made him face her. "I don't care what my _blood_ says I deserve! You may never get me a castle but you're all I need Hajime. I grew up poor and I can live with nothing but what I can't live with out is you! You are all I need or want from life."

Hajime looked down at her some what sadly. "You're more than I could have asked for, I always thought I was doomed to die a lone. Now that I have you, I want nothing more than to have peace to live my life quietly with you and have children with you and die old with you but fate may not let me have what I want."

Kaiya stroked his cheek. "You don't know that you wont. We could survive this stupid war and live to be old!" She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him lovingly. "As for having children, we could do that now!"

Hajime looked away. "I don't know if I want to bring a child into this mess."

She grabbed his face and made him look at her. "If you think that way, we'll never have children! There is no such thing as an ideal time to bring life into the world, there is always something going wrong in the world."

He studied her carefully for a long while then tipped her chin up and kissed her. "If that's what you want." He said softly then grabbed her hand and continued walking. "We're supposed to be relaxing, not stressing out about things we can't control."

Kaiya smiled again as she walked along side of him. "Can we go to the market?" She asked.

Hajime made a weird face. "Why?"

"I've been cooped up in those castle walls for weeks! I've barely left my room! I want to interact with people who aren't samurai or soldiers and pretend we're normal for a little while." She said then gave him a pouty face.

Hajime rolled his eyes. "Fine." He said with a sigh.

She smiled and squeezed his arm. "I love you!" Then kissed his cheek.

Hajime sighed but had to work hard to keep the smile from his face.

A few hours later the lay on the futon in their room kissing, touching and grinding up against each other. Kaiya sighed happily as Hajime kissed her neck and his hand roamed down from her breast to her stomach down the front of her hips then between her thighs. The gasp and the soft moan that followed only encourage his fingers to continue to stroke and press against the vulnerable flesh as he lifted his head to watch her expression as she squeezed her eyes shut and moaned his named.

He finally stopped as she begged him to enter her, so he resumed kissing her neck and lips as he pinned her arms above her head and granted her wish. They withered groaned and grinded against each other, trying their best to not be too loud being the middle of the day and were just climaxing when a loud banging came to the door.

"Sensei! Sensei! You're needed immediately!" Came a voice she didn't recognize. Wisely though, the man never came in.

Hajime let out an angry growl as he rolled off of her. "I'll be right out!" Kaiya called back trying to not sound winded.

Hajime grabbed her clothes and slid them onto her shoulders and straightened out the layers and tied them together while she tried to get her hair back under control. After all these years, Hajime still destroyed her hairstyles. He just loved running his fingers through her hair.

When she was finally organized she gave Hajime a quick but passionate kiss. "Get some sleep Hajime. You're going to need it for tonight." She said as she stroked his cheek fondly.

He just sighed obviously still annoyed with being interrupted and waved for her to go. When she exited the room, the man stood there red faced and looking very embarrassed.

"S-so sorry, S-sensei!" He stuttered. "Y-yamazaki-san said he needs your surgical skills i-immediately."

Kaiya started towards the medical area but the man grabbed her arm. "It's out in the battlefield, Sensei. I'll protect you." Kaiya scoffed and turned back to her room. As she reached for the door, it slid open and Hajime handed her, her sword and surgical kit.

"I'll come with you." He said although he hadn't yet fully dressed.

"I'll be fine Hajime." She replied as slid the sword into her obi and slung the bag over the opposing shoulder. She turned back to the man who'd turned red faced once more. "Lead the way." She said to him.

The man took off at a jog. Kaiya followed him as they made their way through the castle, then towards the active battlefield. At first the sound was a constant din in the distance but at as they got closer, Kaiya could hear the sound of gun shots and cannon fire going off and the clash of blades. They entered into a forest that was thick with the smoke of a fire burning further in, making visibility low and almost impossible to see any further than a couple feet.

An angry scream broke out from Kaiya's left and she just managed to step to the side in time for a blade to pass by her torso. Kaiya quickly pulled her blade free and deflected another strike as three more men emerged from the smoke. Her escort lashed out at the nearest enemy while Kaiya continued to engage her attacker. Only the one man focused on her escort while the remaining three focused on her, almost as if they were focused on killing her.

Kaiya quickly dispatched her first attacker but was forced on the defense as the remaining two attacked her at the same time. One of her attackers made a fatal miscalculation and Kaiya capitalized on it, removing the man's head from his shoulders but as Kaiya turned to face her final opponent; five more men appeared and all of them headed straight for her.

Kaiya stepped back as they engaged, deflecting their attacks desperately. Her escort had finally dispatched his enemy and managed to attract one her attackers away but it wasn't enough. Suddenly Kaiya's foot caught onto something and caused her to fall backwards onto her back. Kaiya lifted her blade to try and block the inevitable attack when the attack never came Kaiya sat up.

Hajime stood in front of her, blade drawn. One man was already on the ground dead, the remaining four stood staring at him in disbelief. One of them shook his head then with a battle cry, attacked Hajime. Kaiya quickly got to her feet and stood beside him as they all attacked. In a few minutes their enemies were dispatched.

Kaiya's escort panted like had fought the whole group himself, while Hajime's breathing was barely elevated. Hajime looked at Kaiya, his face showing concern.

"Are you alright?" He asked as he touched her shoulder.

"Yeah I'm fine. Thanks. They seemed to be targeting me, why? I'm just a doctor!" Kaiya asked as she walked towards her escort.

"You did save Kondou-san's life and are related to Souji-kun and are my wife. You are also important to many people in the Shinsengumi; they may hope to dishearten us by killing you." He said as he followed her.

Kaiya looked at her escort. "Alright that's enough of a break we need to get to Yamazaki-kun quickly!"

"R-right." Then man turned and started running again. After a few more minutes of running, they came to a clearing where the smoke was less with a battle still in full swing. Kaiya spotted Yamazaki trying to assist a man with a large spike protruding from his stomach, behind a line of their men that was quickly falling a part. Hajime put a hand on Kaiya's shoulder.

"There's no commanding officer alive here to direct the battle, I must assume control and get things in hand again. Go help Yamazaki and I'll try and keep them away from you." He ordered her.

Kaiya nodded and looked at him worriedly. "Alright, be careful!"

Hajime just nodded his head, indicated for their escort to follow him and ran to the front of the battle while Kaiya ran over to Yamazaki.

Yamazaki looked up as she knelt down beside him. "I had begun to think you wouldn't make it. It's a good thing you brought Saitou-san with you."

"I didn't mean too, I told him to stay and get some rest but he worries about me and followed anyways." Kaiya said as she inspected the man's wound.

Yamazaki smiled slightly. "He cares about you greatly; he can't help it. You know when he left the Shinsengumi for that mission, he'd always ask about you when we had a chance to talk."

Kaiya smirked at him briefly then looked down again. "How did this happen anyways?" She asked him.

"I'm not entirely sure myself but he's likely to have injuries I'm too inexperienced to fix." Yamazaki said with a sigh.

"While I'm flattered you think so highly of me, even I have my limits and I don't know if _I_ can fix this." Kaiya shook her head sadly. "All I can do is my best. I'll work on this man; you go find others who need help."

"You can't do this alone!" Yamazaki protested.

"This man's chances are slim, go save someone who can be saved and I'll do my best for this one." Kaiya said as she slid her surgical kit off of her shoulder.

"I can't leave you alone! We're in the middle of an active battle! If something happened to you, Saitou-san would never forgive me!" Yamazaki said looking mortified.

Kaiya shook her head, "I can take care of myself! Now go!"

Yamazaki crossed his arms. "I don't think so! You're too important to leave a lone!" He said stubbornly.

Kaiya rolled her eyes. "Fine, I can't order you to leave."

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So I hope you had fun reading this chapter let me know what you think! R&R!

-Shockra


	9. Chapter 9

This came to me a little easier than some of the last couple of chapters so hopefully you all still enjoy! I had fun with the Souji and Kaiya interaction, I don't why but I love them together! :) Maybe I'll write more of Souji's girlfriend into the next chapter!

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A week later Sannan still hadn't turned back into a fury so it was decided that Hijikata and the rest of the Fury Corps would all receive the cure as well but it'd take time to cure them all. The Fury Corps had ceased to be useful and if anything, they had become more of a burden but Kaiya was kept away from them and their dealings. Honestly, though, she didn't really want anything to do with them; they railed against the ethics her father had instilled in her. She had been brought into the whole fiasco unwillingly and only continued being involved so she could cure her friends.

Late one night, Kaiya was finishing up in the medical area when Sannan approached her.

"Good evening Kaiya-chan." He greeted politely. Even though he was no longer a fury, the creation of the Water of Life had become his project after Kodou's departure and he had intimate understanding of the Corps that she and the others lacked and so he continued to manage them until they could cure them all.

"Good evening, Sannan-san. What can I do for you?" She asked.

"Earlier today, Nagakura-kun managed to catch one of Kodou's monster's alive. We've hid it away and thought it wise to wait until the evening to find you." He said. "We tried your antiserum on him but it seems to have had no affect on him."

Kaiya nodded her head. "Just as I thought."

Sannan pulled a vial from his pocket. "This is a fresh sample of his blood, if you wish to look at it. I know most of the samples you have received have not been to useful but this one was drawn just five minutes ago, it should still be good."

Kaiya took the vial and held in the light of the lamp and studied it for a moment. "I'll take a look at when I return to my room. I can get back to you in an hour or so or I can wait until morning, although I doubt I'll have a lot to say."

"The morning will be fine; I doubt you'll be able to find a way to alter the antiserum overnight." He said with a slight smirk. "Besides I have things to do before the night ends. We will talk in the morning." He said as he continued to smile at her slightly then turned and left.

Kaiya quickly finished cleaning up and headed back to her room. When she got to her door, she slowly opened it hoping to not make a sound. In the moonlight, she could see Hajime's motionless form lying on their futon apparently fast asleep. Kaiya carefully closed the door then tiptoed to her desk in the now pitch black room. Thankfully she managed to neither trip over or bump into anything on her way.

She knelt down by her desk and when she lit her lamp, she looked over her shoulder at Hajime once more to see if she had awakened him. When he remained still, she turned back to her desk and started working. After about twenty minutes, she was squinting down the lens of her microscope when a hand touched her shoulder. Kaiya fell to the side away from the hand and gasped, startled by the unexpected presence of another.

Hajime chuckled slightly as Kaiya put a hand to her heart. She sat up and smacked him on the shoulder. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" She hissed at him.

He just smiled and grabbed her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist. "What are you doing?" He asked. When she told him about her encounter with Sannan he frowned. "So now you're going to be working day and night again."

Kaiya sighed. "I'd hoped that it would be a simple ingredient change or maybe just add something but I doubt that. This blood sample looks completely different from our furies and it even looks different from the few samples of other furies of Kodou's. He seems to be still perfecting it."

Hajime shook his head. "We just need to find Kodou and his monsters and just kill them, we don't need to find a cure for them."

"Hajime!" Kaiya scolded. "They were unlikely to be willing participants in his experiments, do they deserve to die because of another man's evil?"

Hajime sighed in frustration. "I don't think you want to hear my answer, Kaiya. I'm going back to bed and you should too." He got up abruptly and walked over to their futon and laid down.

Kaiya scowled at him as he walked away. Kaiya didn't need him to answer, she knew how his brain worked. She loved him but he sometimes had a truly cold outlook on things. He thought they deserved to die, they were witnesses and could potentially cause them more troubles in the future. Kaiya agreed that the research needed to be destroyed but the doctor in her couldn't allow for others to pay for another man's sins, it was her job to save lives not take them. Kaiya wondered if all of _their_ furies would get the cure. Or would some of them be deemed not trustworthy enough and be destroyed like a rabid dog? Kaiya shook her head, there was not point worrying about it, they'd never let her find out.

The following morning, Kaiya woke to find the bed beside her empty. She rubbed her eyes and frowned, she didn't remember him leaving. Kaiya shrugged her shoulders, that wasn't entirely unusual; Hajime was an early riser and sometimes had top secret missions.

When she had dressed, Kaiya headed for Sannan's room. Half way there, Sannan greeted her on the walkway. "Good morning, Kaiya-chan." He grabbed her arm gently and turned her the other way. "It seems we will be meeting with Kondou-san this morning."

"Is it to do with what we talked about last night?" She asked as she was directed to room where they tended to congregate.

When they entered, it was a full house. All the captain's where there, as well as Yamazaki, Shimada and even Gen. Kaiya stared at Gen flabbergasted for a moment as Sannan took a seat beside Kondou.

"Gen-san?" Kaiya asked shocked.

He smiled at her, "I literally just arrived. I hear congratulations are in order, I don't think any of us could have guessed how blessed we would be in accepting your services."

Kaiya blushed. "Thank you Gen-san. I'm glad to see you up and around."

Kaiya flinched when a hand touched her shoulder. She heard Hijikata chuckle behind her. "I don't mean to startle you, Kaiya-chan but you're blocking the door."

Kaiya smiled as she stepped out of the door way. It had been a while since she had heard Hijikata laugh. She took a seat beside Hajime, she smiled at him when she sat down but he just looked away with what Kaiya interrupted as a guilty look. Once everyone had quieted down Kondou started speaking.

"Today's likely to be an interesting day." He started. "Apparently we have entered into peace talks with the pro-imperialists. I can't guarantee things will go peacefully but its progress."

"So if they do come to terms, what happens to us?" Heisuke asked.

Kondou shrugged his shoulders. "That is yet to be seen but there's likely to be Diamyo's and other men who'll still try to make a grab for power and will need dealing with. Take this chance to rest up, the talks are likely to take a few weeks at least. If the talks do fall apart, you'll all be ready to take up arms again. On another less happy note, Toshi, Sannan-kun and I have come to a tough decision." Kondou looked a Kaiya briefly then resumed talking. "Yesterday, Nagakura-kun managed to capture one of Kodou-san's creations. Sannan-kun tried to use Kaiya-chan's antiserum on him to no affect."

"As I had predicted." Kaiya put in.

Kondou smiled slightly. "Yes you did. I'm afraid you're not going to like what I'm about to say…neither willyou Yukimura-kun." Kondou looked at Chizuru sadly. "We have come to the decision that there is no longer any reason for us to pursue a cure to the Water of Life. Instead we have decided that we are going to destroy it and all evidence of its existence…that includes Kodou-san."

Chizuru looked down at the ground sadly, tears entering her eyes. She said nothing but she must have seen it coming since her father's motives had been discovered. Kaiya said nothing either but looked at Hajime who was refusing to meet her eyes. Could it be just coincidence that they had just had this discussion last night? She thought. Could he have gone to speak with them this morning? Fine if that's what he wants, she thought peevishly.

"So what do you plan on doing about it? I mean just a moment ago you were telling us to take it easy!" Sanosuke said sounding a little cranky.

"I'll take care of it." Kaiya said before Kondou or Hijikata had a chance to reply.

Everybody all turned to her in shock. "What do you mean?" Hijikata asked.

Kaiya sighed. "Think about it. You want to destroy the research but how do you know if you've truly found it? You don't know what to look for and even if I told you, it's likely to altered and I can't predict what that'd look like; you'd need a solid knowledge of alchemy. Kodou could leave a decoy for you to find so that you'll give up looking for it. I'm sure he has a back up plan if his army gets destroyed, maybe even has someone to continue his mission if he dies. Only I could recognize if the notes are authentic."

"And what about the furies or even Kodou-san himself. You couldn't deal with them yourself even if you did manage to find them! Even we have a hard time with Oni! They're serious business." Souji said sounding pissed.

The door slid open and in walked Shiranui with a smirk on his face. "I'll take care of Kodou-san and his furies, although I hate to admit I'll need some help with his furies. He just has too many of them."

"Do you know where he is?" Kondou asked.

"Wait, you can't be considering letting Kai go, are you?" Souji asked furiously. Even Hajime's face had started showing irritation.

"She's right, only she can know whether we've truly found the research or not." Hijikata said becoming stone faced. "And it needs to be destroyed."

"Don't worry your pretty little heads, I'll take care of the princess." Shiranui said with a coy smile. "I'll lead her to him safely. Although once we've found him, I can't guarantee she'll continue to be safe."

Hajime clenched his hands into fist. "I'll go with her, if you really want to go with her foolish idea."

Kondou looked at Hajime sympathetically. "I know you want to look after her…"

"Let him go with her." Sannan said interrupting Kondou.

Kondou sighed. "Alright."

Souji jumped to his feet. "If Hajime-kun is going then I'm going too!"

Kondou looked over a Hijikata who just shrugged. Kondou then looked over at Shiranui once more. " _Do_ you know where Kodou-san is?"

"Not the exact location but I know he's in Edo." Shiranui said sounding bored.

Kondou rubbed his forehead like he had a headache. "Fine, Souji you can go to but…" Kondou raised his hand as Sanosuke and Shinpachi looked like they were about to speak up. "That is all!" He said firmly.

Gen, who had been frowning since Shiranui had last spoken finally spoke. "You know just before I left Edo there were rumours of strange death's all around the city. I never paid them much attention though."

"Well it's a place to start." Hijikata said with a sigh.

Half an hour later Kaiya sat in the medical area packing up supplies she thought she might need on their journey, when Hajime approached her looking uncertain if he should approach her. Part of her mind wanted to laugh at his discomfort, it meant that what she thought and felt for him was very important to him but his discomfort also meant that she was likely right about what he did and that pissed her off.

Kaiya waited for him to speak, when he didn't she glared up at him. "What do you want?" She asked testily.

He shifted from one foot to the other, "I'm not sorry for what I did but I _am_ sorry it upsets you. It needed to be said and it didn't really matter anyways, Hijikata-kun was already leaning that way."

Kaiya closed the bag she'd stuff her supplies into and stood up walked away from him. When he didn't follow her, she headed for their room and grabbed her katana and a flask for water. By the time she'd collected everything she needed, Souji and Hajime were standing beside two horses.

"C'mon Kai, lets get going!" Souji said impatiently.

"Only two horses?" Kaiya asked Souji turning her back on Hajime.

"It's all they can afford to give us right now." He responded as he quirked an eyebrow and looked between her and Hajime.

"What about Shiranui-san?" Kaiya asked. "I doubt he'll want to double up with one of you."

"He went on a head; said he'd meet us there. Didn't think you'd need all three of us to look after you." He said with a cheeky smirk. "Now, are we done with this Q and A session?"

Kaiya rolled her eyes, "Yes."

Both Hajime and Souji mounted their horse when Hajime offered her his hand, she turned to Souji. "I think I'll ride with you, Souji."

Souji offered her his hand and helped her up then looked over at Hajime. "What the hell did you do to piss her off?" He asked him.

Hajime just huffed and looked away as he spurred his horse forward. They started their journey at a run but by noon they'd slowed to a walk, they weren't in a particular hurry to reach Edo. Kaiya and Souji talked and laughed as they caught up on each others lives. They hadn't really seen each other much since his return, between her work and his duties there wasn't generally a lot of time socialize.

Kaiya had searched him out a few times to check up on him but their encounters tend to be brief and mostly about business. Quite frankly, Kaiya hadn't spent a lot of time with any of her friends since the war had started. After an extended period of silence, a thought popped in Kaiya's head, that made her chuckle.

Souji cast her a strange look over his shoulder at her. "What's with you?" He asked.

She smiled at him. "I was just thinking I might have to take Sano-kun up on his offer to take me out for drinks!"

Souji chuckled. "Uh oh! You really pissed her off Hajime-kun, to chase her into the arms off another man!" Hajime scowled but said nothing.

Kaiya punched him hard in the side, despite his attempts to protect himself from what he knew was coming. "That's not what I meant and you know it! What I meant was I haven't really had a lot of time to spend with my friends and it'd be nice to be able to relax and have some fun with Sano-kun, Shinpachi-kun and Heisuke-kun! They always make me laugh and I haven't really been laughing all that much lately."

"What I don't make you laugh that much so I'm not a loud to be there!" Souji said trying to sound offended.

Kaiya chuckled. "You make me laugh with your idiocy but you're such a bad influence!"

" _I'm_ a bad influence!?" Souji said still to sound offended.

"Absolutely!" She said cheerfully.

"Okay so maybe I did pressure you into drinking a bit of sake but I at least backed off, those other three won't! And if Hajime-kun and I aren't there, who'll protect you from them?" He looked over his shoulder at her with another cheeky grin.

"I can say no to them fairly easily, it's you who makes me do things I don't want to!" She replied pinching his side. "But I _suppose_ the two of you deserve to relax and have fun too."

"Hajime-kun too! My you forgive quickly." Souji said reaching back and attempting to poke her in the side but she just swatted his hand. "So what are you two fighting about anyways?" He asked.

"We're not fighting per say, just strongly disagreeing on a subject and I'm mad at him with how he handled said subject." Kaiya said sounding a little irritated once more.

"Good to know Hajime-kun screws up sometimes. What are you _disagreeing_ on?" Souji asked.

"I wanted to cure _all_ the furies created not just ours, Hajime wants them destroyed and went to have discussion with Kondou-san and Hijikata-kun almost immediately after our disagreement." Kaiya voice sounded even more irritated.

Hajime sighed. "I just talked to Hijikata-kun and it wasn't immediately after we talked."

"That's besides the point Hajime!" She growled at him.

"I probably shouldn't say this with you right behind me but I kind of agree with him." Souji said then quickly added. "He did handle it poorly from what you said but if we let them all live who knows what sort of awful things could happen!"

Kaiya leaned back and folded her arms and looked away from Hajime and Souji. When she didn't make a reply, Souji tried to look over his shoulder at her. "Hello, are you still back there?" He asked then looked over his other shoulder, surprised that she hadn't hit him yet.

"She's mopping now. She probably expected that you would at least pretend to agree with her." Hajime said as a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

Souji grinned at him. "Our spoiled little princess, mopes when she doesn't get her way." His grin only broadened when she hit him once more. "So why did you volunteer to do this if you don't want to destroy the furies?" Souji asked finally.

"Because this research goes against my own beliefs and should have never even been started, it's immoral. So now I'm going to put an end to it." Kaiya replied somberly. "And like you implicated, it and they are a danger to everyone."

* * *

Aw poor Hajime! Lol I hope you all enjoyed reading! R&R!

-Shockra


	10. Chapter 10

Hey all! So sorry it's taken so long to post again, I've been struggling a bit. I hope it was worth the wait, even if it is a little short. I hope you enjoy!

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That first night had been a cold and wet one, so despite her anger with her husband, Kaiya was forced curl up against Hajime for warmth while they laid near the fire. While the rest of their journey was warm, it continued to rain off and on throughout their whole trip; making all three of them miserable and cranky. By the next morning, Kaiya had given up on being mad at Hajime and rode with him. He even let her ride in front of him while he wrapped his arms around her, trying to protect her from the rain…not that it helped much but Kaiya appreciated the thought.

When Edo finally came into view, they were all relieved to see it. The first thing they did upon arriving was to find an inn to stay in and a stable for the horses. They had been sent with a sizable amount of coin just in case there stay ended up being prolonged and had to track Kodou around the country, so they could afford to stay in a fairly nice inn and Kaiya and Hajime could have separate quarters from Souji but it was festival season and almost everything was booked up; making them have to bunk together.

Once they'd dried off some what, the three of them sat at a table in the inns small but bustling restaurant and ordered steaming dishes of food and warmed tea. After they'd eaten a couple of mouthfuls Kaiya spoke up.

"So what now?" She asked as she looked between the two men.

"Walk around listening for information." Souji said with a nonchalant shrug.

"What about Shiranui-san? He's supposed to be helping us." Kaiya wondered.

"Shiranui-san will find us when he wants. He's more interested in killing Kodou-san and his so called _clan,_ then he is helping us." Hajime said with a hint of disdain in his voice. "He's unlikely to find us until he knows more of where Kodou-san is. He's likely been here for several days now. All we can do for now is do our own search. I have couple reliable sources of information that we can check first."

"You have sources here?" Souji said surprised.

"You forget I was on my own, years before I met you and Kondou-san." Hajime said with a shrug. "I spent quite a bit of time in Edo before I came to Kondou-san's dojo. My sources were the reason I ended up there to begin with."

"Wait I don't think I know how you ended up there. You just told me you ended up in Kyoto after everyone, I don't think you've ever told me how you met everyone." Kaiya said suddenly interested in the story. "I don't think I know how most of you met."

Hajime shrugged again. "It's not a particularly interesting story, although I'm pretty sure I've told you. I was going from dojo to dojo, challenging the best warriors when I arrived at Kondou-san's dojo to challenge him. He wasn't there when I arrived and so Souji met my challenge. Afterwards I would return to dojo off and on and eventually I just became one of them."

"Wait now I remember! You said that it was a draw because Kondou-san and Hijikata-kun interrupted the match." Kaiya suddenly remembered.

"I totally would've beaten his ass if Kondou-san hadn't interrupted!" Souji said confidently with a cheeky smile.

Hajime smirked slightly. "I guess we'll never know. Now back to the present. It's barely past noon, Souji and I can go out and see what kind of information we can find. You should stay here, Kaiya, and dry off. Maybe Shiranui-san will show up here."

Kaiya frowned at him. "I don't want to stay here while the two of you go out and get drenched!"

"No, Hajime-kun is right. It'll be easier for us to get information without you around." Souji said as he patted her hand with his free one.

Kaiya's frown deepened to a scowl. "What does that mean?" She asked, in irritation.

"Well most guys probably won't talk with you around willingly and Hajime-kun isn't very likely to be as…persuasive as he can be, when you're around." Souji said with a slight smirk.

"Just stay inside, Kaiya. You're still soaking wet and we can't have you getting sick." Hajime said with a sigh. "Besides, you haven't been sleeping well. Take this chance to catch up on sleep, who knows when we might have to leave again."

Kaiya crossed her arms, "Fine. I'll stay…for now but you're not leaving me behind tomorrow." She said firmly.

Hajime and Souji exchanged looks. Souji shrugged and they both looked back at Kaiya. "Fine." Hajime said. "We won't leave you behind."

Satisfied she gave a nod and the two men got to their feet, Hajime kissed Kaiya on the lips and Souji the top of her head and left. When she'd finished her food, Kaiya headed up to the room they'd book. Hajime was right, she was exhausted and freezing. The Inn keeper had rented a large kerosene lamp to use as a "heater" to attempt to dry their clothing.

Kaiya hung all her clothing and the spare sets of clothing that Hajime and Souji had left behind on a line that Hajime had strung across the room then looked at their pile of blankets for a moment. Kaiya was tempted to hang the blankets out the window but she really didn't want to let in anymore humid air than was already in the room and the fact that she was completely naked at the moment. The last thing she needed was some peeping toms watching her.

She rolled out the futon, then after checking to make sure the door was locked, slid down underneath the covers. She must have been more tired than she had realized because she fell asleep almost immediately. At one point she had started to wake up upon hearing hushed male voices but then her subconscious recognized Hajime and Souji voices and started to drift back asleep.

"She's right out isn't she?" She'd heard Souji say before drifting back into complete unconsciousness.

When she woke up the next morning she was toasty warm and mostly dry for the first time in days. She also noted Hajime spooning up against her back side with barely anything on. Most of the time that'd be very appealing and tempting enough to wake Hajime up for some play time but with her cousin only six feet away, back turned to them or not, she couldn't possibly.

Kaiya considered her current naked conundrum. She had planned on waking up before they'd returned and dressing in her semi dry clothing but that hadn't happened. So now she had to either get up and risk her cousin seeing her naked or wake Hajime up and make him get her clothes for her. Kaiya glanced over at her cousin again, his breathing was deep and slow, so Kaiya decided to risk it.

Carefully she slid out from underneath Hajime's arm and the cover. Once on her feet, she tip-toed over to the clothes line and quickly snatched her still slightly damp clothes off of the line. When she had dressed and turned around, Hajime had sat up and was rubbing eyes watching her. Luckily, though, Souji was still out dead to the world.

She grabbed his driest set of clothes off of the line and brought it to him. After a quick kiss he took the clothes and dressed. Once dressed he indicated for her to follow him out of the room and once they were both out, he grabbed her hand and led her to the Inns small eating area.

After they had sat down and ordered, Kaiya was the first to speak up. "So did you find anything?" She asked Hajime.

Hajime shook his head. "No but I didn't expect to find something on the first day, we're rarely that lucky."

"So nothing unusual?" Kaiya asked. "Usually theirs a trail of bodies when _they_ are near by."

"Usually but they must be cleaning up after themselves. Their have been many disappearances but Edo is so large that no body really notices, especially when they are usually homeless or poor people." Hajime said with a hint of sadness.

"That's a very sad truth." Kaiya said with as sigh as she stared down glumly at her breakfast.

"Indeed, that's one of the reasons I had come here in the first place…when I was younger. To disappear, to become one of the faceless." Hajime took a sip of his tea, probably trying to hid his expression from her.

"Well I'm glad you didn't." Kaiya reached across the table and stroked his hand.

After a few more minutes of chatting Souji finally showed up looking sleepy-eyed. Kaiya smiled as he sat down with them.

"Good morning, sleepy-head." She said to him.

He smiled at her. "Morning! You two started with out me!"

"We needed a little bit of _us_ time." Kaiya said. "We didn't get a lot of alone time with you around all the time nor have we in the last year or so."

"You do realize that you two were fighting when we left." Souji said as he waved a server over.

When he had order his own plate of food Kaiya looked at him. "Well I tend to forgive easily, which is a good thing to with all the block heads I work with."

"Oh, ouch." Souji said with a laugh.

"I hope you're not lumping me in that group?" Hajime asked with a sigh.

"I am in fact. You and your friends the most emotionally constipated group of people I have ever met." Kaiya replied with a cheeky grin.

"Hey!" Souji complained as the server put the food down in front of him.

Hajime let out a bit of an annoyed sighed. "Shouldn't we get back to business."

"Alright. So, if you two want to have _alone_ time, then you two can go out together and I'll go out on my own." Souji replied trying to hide his smirk.

Kaiya gave him a suspicious look. "Let me guess, so you can go and see Masumi-chan?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said before he shoved food into his mouth.

"Who is Masumi-chan?" Hajime asked looking confused.

"I guess its not surprising that you never heard of her, she's Souji's girlfriend or…was anyways." Kaiya replied with a mischievous grin.

Now Hajime looked surprised. "You had a girlfriend?"

Souji scowled, "Don't be so surprised. No one would've thought a cold hearted bastard such as yourself would be able to catch such a sweet caring woman as her." He said indicting Kaiya with his thumb.

Hajime just gave Souji the stink eye, it was Kaiya whom responded. "That's enough Souji." She said with a sigh.

"I'll have you know that I intend to do my job. Besides I doubt she's waited around for me." He said before downing the last of his meal.

"You don't know that, she seemed like a reasonable young lady." Kaiya had genuinely liked the girl.

Souji cocked an eyebrow. "I thought you were trying to make sure I behaved myself, Kai, and not go chasing after some girl."

Hajime sighed. "Can we move on, we're wasting daylight."

Kaiya chuckled and patted Hajime's hand. "Fine, Hajime and I will go together and you, Souji, can be all by yourself."

Hajime nodded. "Kaiya and I will go into a residential area, maybe there will be rumours there. Children and women are easy prey, there are likely to have been several bodies over the months."

"Makes sense, I'll go to the docking yard and along the shore. Nobody really questions the death a sailor." Souji said as he got to his feet.

Hajime and Kaiya also got to their feet. "Be careful, Souji. Don't be picking any fights." She said, then went up on her tippy toes and pecked him on the cheek.

He just smiled and winked at her, then turned and walked out. Hajime looked down at her. "I'm going to get my daisho, I'll meet you at the front door."

"Can you grab my katana while you're at it?" She asked sweetly.

Hajime smirked slightly. "Not today. If we're going to be talking to families, you probably shouldn't be visibly armed."

Kaiya smiled. "I suppose you're right."

He bent down, pecked her on the lips then moved towards the stairs. She watched him for a moment longer than went to the door and peered outside. Annoyed at what she saw, Kaiya glared up at the sky as it was once again was raining. After staring for a few minutes, she felt someone breathe down the nape on her neck as someone sighed. Startled by the sudden presence of another and the proximity, Kaiya spun around and shoved backward.

Hajime's iron grip latched on to her arm as he stumbled back a bit, startled by her reaction. When they both had recovered, Hajime smiled and chuckled lightly and Kaiya chuckled as she put her hand to her chest.

"Sorry, you're so quiet I didn't hear you approach. I didn't know someone was there until you breathed on my neck." Kaiya chuckled again as she put her forehead on his chest.

Hajime kissed the top of her head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Shall we go?"

When she looked up at him again, he was still smiling. "Yes, let's go." She touched his cheek as she turned back to the door and stepped outside.

As they trudged through the mud, they stuck close to the buildings getting shelter from the overhangs where they could. When they reached the residential area, the wandered aimlessly trying to find people to talk to but most people either were wisely staying in doors or avoided them when they approached them.

When the sun reached high noon, Hajime pulled Kaiya under an overhang. Even though the rain had slowed to a light drizzle, people were still staying indoors.

"Why don't we head to the nearest river and search around there? In Kyoto, furies liked to dump bodies underneath bridges." He said once they were under the cover of the over hang. "Maybe we'll get lucky and find one there."

"Lucky?" She said with a quirked eyebrow as she wringed out her hair then attempted re-secure it.

Hajime sighed. "A poor choice of words but you know what I meant."

Kaiya smiled. "Yes I did, I just had to point it out. Anyways, that sounds fine with me. Its not like we're getting any where's here. Maybe somewhere near the castle?"

Hajime gave her a weird look. "Why there? That's quite a ways away from here."

"All the more reason to look over there. I don't know if I have a rational reason, that's just where I want to be."

Hajime let out a dramatic sigh. "Fine, although its unlikely to find anything out there. It's fairly well patrolled, a dead body wouldn't sit around for long."

Kaiya just shrugged as she smiled up at him, then grabbed his hand and pulled him in the direction of the castle.

A few hours later, they combed the shoreline of the rivers in the area; paying particular attention to the area around bridges. After about two more hours, they struck gold…very decayed gold. It had been half buried in the mud and likely had been fully buried until the rain washed away the mud. Kaiya crouched down beside the corpse and closely inspected the body, looking for the telltale signs that a fury had killed this person. At first glance, the body was awfully pale but judging from the decomposition; the teenage girl had been dead for a couple weeks.

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, the telltale marks were there in the most common area; on the neck. The girl also had a snapped neck. Kaiya hoped that the girl had been killed before she had the blood drained from her body. When she was done her inspection, she stood up and looked over at Hajime who stood by patiently waiting for her to finish and watching for any prying eyes.

"What now?" When she finished her inspection.

"We continue our search; one body doesn't tell us a lot." He replied as he offered her his hand as she stood up. "Only that there has been a fury here at one point."

Kaiya grabbed his hand and looked back sadly at the dead girl. "What about her?"

"We'll leave an anonymous tip of where to find her. We have no jurisdiction and no working relationship with the local guard, it's the best we can do."

Kaiya looked back at the dead body one more time before she allowed Hajime to lead her away.

* * *

So? Worth it? I hope so! I've been doing a little better these last couple days, maybe I'll find my groove again...maybe.

-Shockra

Edit: Mar 2nd So I was half done the next chapter when my hard drive of my computer crashed :( so I lost all my stories...trying to get them back but like a dumbass I haven't updated my backup files in a while. So now I'm waiting on a new computer (its on order) and hoping I won't have write everything again. And not just this story but I have other Fan fictions and original stories...ugh (I was hoping on putting a Mass Effect story out there)


	11. Chapter 11

Hello everyone! I'm back! So, so sorry it took me so long to post again. I just can't seem to get out of my rut. I swear I opened up this chapter on a regular basis and if I was lucky, managed to chisel out a paragraph. Good news is we're in the home stretch. Bad news, I didn't do any editing to it might be loaded with grammatical errors, which tends to annoy me when I read other peoples work. A few are okay, but scores and scores of them can sometimes ruin a story for me. So hopefully I don't have that many errors, no promises though. Hope you enjoy and once again, I AM SO SORRY!

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After week of searching, they didn't seem to be getting anywhere. They'd found many dead bodies and heard many stories of missing people but they were scattered all over the city. The only thing they were certain of was that there was or had been furies in Edo and a lot of them. At least they were on the right track.

In the second week Shinarui showed up while Kaiya and Souji wandered the streets together. The weather had finally changed for the better…mostly. It was no longer raining but instead hot and humid. As they walked down a tree lined street, Shinarui stepped out into the path in front of them.

"You've been busy." He said by way of greeting.

"Yeah, _we_ have been! What about you? What have _you_ been doing?" Souji asked as he crossed his arms and glared at the man in front of him.

"Looking, the same as you but I've been much more successful." Shinarui said with a smug smile.

"You've found him?" Kaiya asked hopefully.

"I had but he's disappeared again." Shinarui let out a dramatic sigh.

"So you have nothing." Souji said testily.

"Not necessarily." Shinarui pulled something from behind his back and held it out to Kaiya. "He left this behind."

Kaiya grabbed the book that he held out to her. The book was a thick leather bound book. Kaiya quickly scanned what was written in it but from what she gathered from the writing, it wasn't it. "This _is_ a medical journal but it isn't the research for the Water of Life."

"Like I said, nothing." Souji repeated.

Kaiya glared at Souji then turned back to Shinarui. "Even if it was his research, you'd still need to get Kodou-san. He more than likely could recreate the recipe with out any trouble just from memory."

"Do you know where he went?" Souji asked.

"He is apparently going for Nagoya." Shinarui said uncertainly.

"But you aren't certain." Kaiya said watching him carefully. "Why head back the way he'd come?"

"Because that is where most of the countries warriors and soldiers are. If he thinks he's perfected the Water of Life, he'd return and try and decimate all resistance." Shinarui nodded to himself.

"That's not good, how much of a head start does he have?" Kaiya asked.

"He left town when we arrived." Shinarui said with a sigh.

"Then we must leave immediately, before the trail goes cold." Kaiya said passionately.

Souji smirked. "He must've heard about you reversing the transformation of those monstrosities, Kai. Turned tail and ran."

Shinarui scoffed. "Unlikely. More likely is that he had heard news of the peace talks and it took him a while to get those things organized and left when we arrived. This conversation has turned pointless; I'll meet you in Nagoya. If he's moved on, I'll leave a message for you." With a curt nod he turned and leapt onto the nearest roof and disappeared.

When Shinarui was out of sight the three of them looked at each other. Souji crossed his arms.

"Do we believe him?" Kaiya asked Souji.

Souji shrugged. "We don't really have reason not to and he doesn't have any reason to lie."

"What if he's joined forces with Kodou? He could be lying to get us away from here." Kaiya pointed out.

Souji rolled his eyes. "If that was true, he would just kill us off. What kind of threat could we be against an army of furies?"

Kaiya nodded. "Yeah that makes sense. So off to Nagoya we go?" She asked.

"It seems that way. Let's go find Hajime-kun and make a plan." Souji grabbed her arm gently and guided her down the street in the general direction of the inn they were staying at.

A few hours later, the sun had set and Kaiya and Hajime sat a lone in their room together. After having to share a room with Souji for three days, they were relieved when a room finally opened up for Souji to have to himself. Kaiya was grateful to finally have some time a lone with her husband and Souji wasn't to shy about expressing his relief in being able to get to away from their "Suffocating Lovey Dovey Bubble".

Presently they lay together, idly talking when they heard a loud bang from down the hall, followed by a battle cry. The two of them lunged to their feet, Hajime taking his sword with him. Just as he started for the door, it was kicked in followed closely by a man with his sword drawn.

"Die you Bakufu scum!" The man yelled as he attacked Hajime but his life was cut short as Hajime pulled his blade from its sheath and across the man's neck in one smooth fluid motion.

Kaiya snatched her blade off of the ground as Hajime took another step forward only to stop as another man stepped through the door way. Like the last man, he was quickly cut down by Hajime. Down the hall, Kaiya could hear a similar attack coming from the direction of Souji's room along with his angry shouts. As quickly as it had started, the battle had ended with three dead men in their room and two more that had been dispatched in the hall. Kaiya was more than ready to defend herself but Hajime had dispatched his opponents so quickly that she had barely enough time to acknowledge them, let alone attack. When they went to Souji's room, they found four more dead men and Souji staring down at them.

"Whose men do you think they were?" Souji asked without looking up at them.

Hajime crouched down next to the nearest man. "They're wearing Western clothing, so not likely a local lord. They may have been tracking us, maybe followed us from our headquarters."

"Why?" Kaiya asked. "We're supposed to be in the middle of peace talks, attacking us could end that."

"That's probably the point. One of the Lord's probably doesn't agree with the peace talks. Maybe they wanted to capture you, use you as leverage against Kondou-san or Hijikata-san." Souji suggested.

"Again, why?" Kaiya asked once more.

"They might see you as our weakest link." Hajime suggested. "Maybe they figure that you know all of the Shinsengumi's deepest secrets and are the most likely to expose them."

Souji nodded his head. "Yeah, that makes sense. Too bad we didn't leave one alive to ask."

"Either way, we should leave. If we stay, they might send more men before the morning. Also, we'll have to deal with Edo's soldier's." Hajime said as he bent over and cleaned his blade off on one of the men's clothing, then sheathed his blade.

They quickly packed their things, paid for the rooms and damages before retrieving their two horses and hurried out of town. It was dark now and it'd make tracking them difficult, still Hajime suggested they take a particularly rocky path out of town and in a different direction than they had arrived from. This time they followed the coast and this time the with the breeze their journey had been a lot more comfortable. Beyond the spray from the ocean on windy days, they had almost no moisture on their trip to Nagoya.

On the second day of their journey, they were riding along when a strong wave of nausea hit Kaiya like a ton of bricks. She tugged frantically on Hajime's sleeve as she croaked for him to stop. He pulled the horse to a stop but even before it had stopped completely, Kaiya had lunged off the back of the horse and went straight for the bushes, regurgitating everything in her stomach.

By the time she'd finished throwing up, Hajime was crouched behind her rubbing her back and holding out a skin with water. Kaiya plunked down on the ground and took a long drink from the skin of water as Hajime watched her carefully, Souji dismounting and coming to stand behind Hajime.

"Are you okay? Are you sick?" Hajime asked as he reached out and touched her forehead.

Kaiya sighed. "No, I don't think so. I've been fine all morning…maybe I didn't cook the food well enough this morning?"

"Do you still feel sick?" Souji asked, frowning, concern also on his face.

Kaiya thought about it for a moment. "No, I must've gotten it out of my system."

Kaiya held out her hand and waited for Hajime to stand up and take her hand to help her up. "Are you sure you're okay?" Hajime asked

"We can't linger, we have to catch up with Kodou-san and stop him. We need to put an end to this war." Kaiya said as she walked passed Souji and over to the horses.

"She isn't wrong." Souji said wincing. "She seems fine. She's probably right, just something she ate."

Hajime nodded and while his face was his typical stoic expression, Kaiya could tell he was still worried. They mounted the horses and continued on. The following day, it happened again but this time, they had already been stopped, watering the horses while Hajime and Souji talked strategy. They were only a few hours away from Nagoya and they wanted to enter it under the cover of night.

This time she had been completely alone and when she finished, she put a hand to her head to check for a fever when she didn't feel one, she put two fingers to her neck and counted her heartbeats. Kaiya ran through every possible sickness but the only symptom she had was she was vomiting and the occasional nausea usually brought on by certain smells. Kaiya stared blankly ahead, shocked, as a thought suddenly crossed her mind.

"Is something wrong?" Hajime asked as he came up behind her.

"Hajime, have my boobs gotten bigger?" She asked him as she looked back at him.

Hajime looked at her shocked by the question. "Huh…what?"

"Are they bigger, or aren't they?" Kaiya asked as she got to her feet.

"I-I suppose they are. Why?" Hajime asked, a little confused.

Kaiya looked behind him. Off in the distance, Souji still hunched over a map that they'd acquire along the way of Nagoya. Kaiya looked back to Hajime and stepped closer. "I…I think I'm pregnant." She said quietly.

Hajime looked at her shocked. "You think?" He asked.

"The vomiting, the sensitivity to smells, my boobs are tender. My stomach feels fine right up to the moment I have to vomit and then feel fine afterwards. I have no other symptoms. No fever, my heartrate is normal, my stomach feels fine, my skin is normal, the white of my eyes are normal, I could go on. It's the only thing that makes sense." Kaiya replied, more confident with each passing moment.

Hajime smiled, then it wavered. "We can't take any risks with you. If trouble comes around, you stay back and let Souji and I take care of it, okay?"

Kaiya winced. "I need to be there, I need to make sure its done."

Hajime touched her face. "We'll see what happens but you need to let me take care of you." He said softly.

She put her hand over top of his. "Alright."

When darkness fell, they snuck into town and took up residence in an abandoned shack in the poor part of town. The first place Souji and Hajime checked, was Nagoya castle. Miraculously, they found recent signs of fury occupation but no Koudo. On the way back, they were attacked by a group of four enemy furies and after an intense exchange, they killed them all.

Kaiya frowned when the two appeared in the door way, covered in blood and sweat. She immediately got to her feet and started closely inspecting them for wounds.

"We're fine, Kai." Souji growled as he pushed her away. "We just ran into a couple, that's more progress than we had in Edo."

"It most certainly is." A voice said from the other side of the blanket that acted as their door. Hajime immediately put himself in between Kaiya and the door as both him and Souji reached for the weapons. When the blanket was pushed aside, Shinarui stepped inside when they saw who it was, Hajime and Souji removed their hands from their swords but did not relax.

"You have deigned to pay us a visit, how kind." Souji said sarcastically.

"Keep your snide remarks to yourself." Shinarui sneered. "It would seem that Koudo is still here."

"We agree, we found signs of the furies within the castle." Hajime confirmed.

"Then you need to get me in there." Kaiya said touching Hajime's back.

"Not until we know where he's staying." Souji said shaking his head.

"I've already been working on taking out the furies, I can keep them busy while you three find that research." Shinarui suggested.

"It's almost morning, we should wait until night falls again." Hajime pointed out. "We can't move through the castle undetected in broad daylight."

Kaiya tilted her head to the side. "You two may not be, but I might be. I can dress up as a castle servant, they tend to be invisible and Hajime's taught me how to get around undetected. If I get into trouble, I know how to protect myself."

Hajime shook his head. "You can protect yourself from normal soldier but I don't know if you could handle a fury and you definitely can't handle an Oni."

"I know this might sound strange but I agree with Kai. Koudo would probably see us coming from a mile away but I don't think he'd predict us using her like this. He knows how protective we are of you." Souji said with a wince as Hajime glared at him.

"I can get your little princess inside undetected." Shinarui said. "But I can't stick around or Koudo will get wind of me."

"No." Hajime said firmly.

"It would seem that Kondo-san sent me the wrong people. You are to emotionally attached, you can't see this clearly." Shinarui said with sigh. "It's a good plan."

"This is no plan." Hajime said coolly, obviously trying to stay rational. "Dropping her in the middle of castle with no knowledge of the floor plan or where to look or even an exit plan, is not a good plan."

"Actually, Hajime, I do know some of the castle grounds." Kaiya interrupted.

Everyone looked at her shocked. "How?" Hajime asked.

"When I was younger, my father came he to look after the Daimyo's wife. She had a terminal illness but the Daimyo was desperate and my father had a reputation for knowing this most other doctors did not. I was still fairly young than and he didn't feel comfortable leaving Mitsu-chan and I alone, so he brought us with him."

Hajime shook his head. "You said you were young, even with your memory, you could remember things incorrectly. The castle has probably changed since then."

"It doesn't matter what you think." Shinarui said starting to sound testy. "Okita-san is fine with this plan as is Saitou-chan, you're just going to have to go along with it."

"I trust her Hajime-kun, I think she can do this." Souji said putting a hand on his shoulder.

Hajime looked incredibly unhappy but finally nodded his head in accent.

As the sun peaked over the horizon, Kaiya stepped quietly into the servant's quarters. It was already empty as the servant's got up to start breakfast and prepare things for the day. Shinarui had quickly rushed her to the castle while they still had darkness, then disappeared into the darkness. After making a quick assessment of her surroundings, making escape plan from what she could see.

She managed to find a servant's outfit in the sleeping quarter's and even though it had a slight tear, it'd do for her purposes. She then quietly walked through the halls, trying to get a better sense of the castle's interior. Kaiya was walking down a hall when a servant exited a room.

"Hey you!" She whispered harshly. When Kaiya turned to the person, she pointed to herself. "Yes, you, fresh meat! Come here!" Kaiya lowered her head and shuffled towards the other woman. "The Daimyo's guest is demanding to eat now, I have too many other things I need to do, so take this order to the kitchen and bring it to him pronto."

Kaiya took the paper from the other woman and bowed deeply. "Forgive my ignorance, but I don't know how to get to his room."

The woman sighed in frustration and gave her the directions she needed before turning and hurrying away onto whatever task she'd deemed more important. Kaiya was fortunate to already know where the kitchen already was, so she hurried to the kitchen and handed to order to the cook. The cook eyed her suspiciously as Kaiya kept her head down, then turned and filled the appropriate dishes, put it on a tray and indicated for Kaiya to take it.

Kaiya took the tray and hurried down the hall to where she had been told too got. She stopped at the door she thought she needed and stared at it, she hoped she was right. Kaiya knelt down beside the door and rapped her knuckles gently against the frame.

"Coming in!" She said softly.

After a brief pause, Kaiya slid the door opened and was immediately hit with the pungent smelt of herbs and what smelt like metal. It was a fairly large room with a covered bed to one side and several desks on the other. In front of one of the desks sat a bald man bent over on his burners as he boiled something in one of the glass jars. Beside him sat a book which he had one hand hoovering over, ready to write his next observation down.

"Leave it just inside the door." The man said with out looking back.

Kaiya placed the tray just inside the door like he had indicated, then slid to door shut once more. Kaiya looked around, not see anywhere for her to hide herself, she then looked up and smiled. The rafter was accessible and wide enough that her lithe form could remain out of sight if someone looked up. Now to get up there, quietly.

Kaiya decided it was best to do it further away, where Koudo wouldn't hear her if she failed to get up on her first try. She made a quick check of the halls, then found a huge corner post, ran at it as fast as she could the used the beam to propel her up towards the rafters. She just barely managed to grab the rafter and just barely managed to get herself over the top of it in time for a guard to appear and look around confused. He checked all of the rooms down the hall then continued looking, heading in the opposite direction of Koudo's room

Kaiya moved towards Koudo's room once more stopped several feet back from the door then settled herself down to wait. It was midday when Koudo finally emerged from his room and disappeared down the hall. Kaiya wanted to jump down and sneak into the room but a guard appeared and stopped in front of the door. Kaiya looked at the wall in the rafters that separated her from the room. She shimmied closer then pulled the blade hidden from within her sleeve.

She worked on the edge of a board quietly until it suddenly popped loose. She the loosened a second board then forced her body through the small opening and looked down into the room she was now in. Kaiya looked around and considered how she could get down quietly then back up without being heard or seen. She shimmied over to where the bed was located then lowered her lower half of her body off of the rafter then dropped down onto the bed.

She crept towards the desks and immediately started carefully digging through drawers. In the last drawer, she found the leather-bound book she'd seen Koudo writing in. She opened it a carefully scanned the pages then smiled, this was what she was looking for. She looked at the contents on the desk, then found a bundle of dried herbs on one side of the desk. She pulled out all the paper on and in the desk, and put it in a pile on top of it. She then pulled out the flint in her pocket and struck her dagger against it, causing sparks.

After a couple strikes, a spark caught. Kaiya then took the kerosene from the burn Koudo had been using and poured it over the desk then over the floor. She dropped the container ran to the bed and used it help her get back up into the rafters. Just as she squeezed through the opening once more, the guard slammed the door open then ran out shouting "Fire!"

Kaiya was barely half way down the hall when the room was almost completely engulfed in flames. Koudo came running back too his room and started screaming for water. Kaiya was torn between staying and possibly following Koudo but she knew she was already pushing her luck. She shimmied further down the hall then when she saw no one with in the immediate vicinity, she dropped down. She feigned running for a well then immediately ducked behind a building as several more people appeared at the well with buckets and started bailing water.

She ducked from shadow to shadow until she made it to the gate. She pulled off the outfit she'd been wearing, the black yukata still underneath and shoved the clothing underneath a building. She waited for the guards to be distracted, as the fire seemed to spread into the rest of the castle. They walked further into compound to get a better view of the fire, giving Kaiya the chance to dart from tree to tree the after taking a moment to watch the guards, she darted out of the gate.

Souji and Hajime must've been watching the gate because as she started down the nearest back street, Hajime appeared before her and pulled her further into the shadow and pulled her into a tight hug. When he let go of her, Souji also pulled her into a hug.

"Did you find it?" Souji asked as he pulled back.

"I did, and Koudo's in there right now. He was working on his research when I found him. I waited for him to leave then went in side and set the room on fire. There's no way it could have survived."

"Well the leaves step one completed." Shinarui said appearing on the rooftop above them. "Good job, princess."

"We need to watch this carefully so he doesn't sneak away on us." Hajime said scowling.

"Leave that too me." Shinarui said. "You humans need your rest. When the sunsets, meet me here."

The three of them nodded in agreement then turned and went back to their tiny shack.

* * *

For any of you Walking Dead fans, I also have a TWD story on the go. The first block is nearly done, so you shouldn't be left hanging for centuries... :'( Hope this was worth the wait!

-Shockra


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